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J'Jl 15 1887 




CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS. 



ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE 



BEING 



A HISTORY 



OF THE 



CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS, 



IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 



EDITED BY 



JOSEPH S. TAYLOR 




NEW YORK: 

WILBUR B. KETCHAM, 

71 Bible House. 






# 



^ 



Copyright, 1887, 



By Joseph S. Taylor. 



PREFACE. 



AT the Monthly Meeting of the Church of the Strangers 
l\ for the month of November, 1886, Hon. George W. 
Clarke, Ph.D., introduced a resolution providing for the 
appointment of a committee to prepare a Church History. 
He supported the resolution with the following remarks : 

" Mr. President, Brethren and Sisters : 

"At the regular meeting of the Advisory Council, No- 
vember, 1886, for the admission of new members, one of 
the brethren made an observation to which all gave assent, 
viz. : — 'That the story of the good way in which the Lord 
has led us should be told for the comfort and edification 
of Christians in struggling Churches. This remark led 
to the resolution before you. 

" Brethren, the most marvelous fact in the history of the 
Church of the Strangers is that it has a history. Its exist- 
ence, rapid growth, usefulness, and prosperity for twenty 
years, as an independent Christian Church, without pew 
rents — mark it as one of the wonders of the religious 
world. 

" Would not every friend of the Church of the Strangers 
give something to know how God has made it so great a 
blessing — something to know the methods used in keeping 
for a score of years this gate of Heaven wide open to 
perishing souls ? 



iv PREFACE. 

" And would not Christians everywhere be encouraged 
in the work of the Master by being made acquainted with 
the rich spiritual fruits that have been gathered from what 
seemed at the outset a most unpromising field ? 

" In short, do not the members of this Church owe it to 
the cause of Christ to make all needful provision for letting 
the light of the example of the Church of the Strangers 
shine, that others, seeing its good work, may be helped in 
their efforts to glorify our Father Who is in Heaven ? 

" The Advisory Council hopes the resolution will receive 
your favorable consideration.'' 

The resolution was adopted, and Mr. Joseph S. Taylor, 
Mr. Marion J. Verdeiy, and Miss Cecile Sturtevant were 
appointed a committee to prepare the history. 

In writing this book they have drawn from many sources 
and employed many hands in addition to their own. The 
subscriber has edited the material, so as to make a con- 
nected and, he hopes, a consistent story. 

The Church of the Strangers just came: it was not 
devised by any man. Dr. Deems positively affirms that 
he did not plan or devise it, and that he never discovered 
the man who did. He was not called by the Church, nor 
did he call the Church. We have endeavored to show 
how the people of all creeds, sections, and nationalities 
gathered about him ; and how Providence has used them 
and him to perform a special function. A Church so 
unique in character, begun under the divine guidance 
amid circumstances so peculiar — may we not call its 
history ' A Romance of Providence " ? 

J. S. T. 



CONTENTS. 



i. 

THE STRANGERS' SUNDAY HOME. p AQB 

The Title — A Clergyman of the South — The Watchman— Opinion of 
the late James Harper — Dr. Deems's Experience in New York 
Churches — Sermon before the Y. M. C. A. of Jersey City — A Prom- 
ise Extorted, and How It Was Kept — "The Strangers' Sunday 
Home " — Death of Dr. Hawks I 

II. 



Struggles for Existence — Determination to Organize an Independent 
Church— The Paper Read by Dr. Deems — Names of Persons Who 
Enrolled 14 

III. 
A PRINCELY GIFT. 

The Mercer Street Presbyterian Church — Building for Sale — Dr. 
Deems's Offer — He is Introduced to "Mrs. Crawford and Her 
Daughter, of Mobile " — He Accepts an Invitation to Visit Commo- 
dore Vanderbilt — The Commodore Catechizes Dr. Deems — " Doc- 
tor, I'll Give You the Church ! "—The Effect— No Receipt 20 

IV. 

NEW QUARTERS. 

Making Repairs— How the Commodore Tried the Doctor's ' ' Pluck "— 
A Building of Historical Interest — Mr. McBurney's Letter — Open- 
ing Exercises — The Programme 34 

V. 

INTERNAL ECONOMY. 

Membership — Form of Application— The Monthly Meeting— The Offi- 
cers^ — Why the Advisory Council and S. S. Superintendent are 
Nominated by the Pastor — Summary of Membership) — The Board 



Yi CONTENTS. 

Page 

of Finance — Support of the Church — Form of Subscription — The 
Ushers— A Story of New Mexico — Symbol of Faith— Ritual— The 
Holy Communion — Baptism — Other Services 43 

VI. 

THE TRIBES. 
The Origin — Voluntary Combinations — Pastoral Visiting 66 

VII. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

Origin — List of Superintendents — Table of Summaries — Description of 
Service — Good Order — Reverential — Careful Attention — Christmas 
Festival — Work for Missions 74 

VIII. 

THE CHINESE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

A New School — Women for Teachers — Average Attendance — A Scholar 
Joins the Church — A Consistent Christian — The Second Convert — 
Use of Such Schools 86 

IX. 
PRAYER MEETINGS. 

Regular Weekly Meeting — What A Great Preacher Says of Prayer 
Meetings — Nature and Function of Prayer Meeting — The Card 
with List of Topics — Noon-day Prayer Meeting — Services Every 
Day of the Year — Expenses — Names of Those Who. Published 
Original Call 94 

X. 

"THE MOTHERS' MEETING." 

A Good Beginning — The Interest Flags — Trying to Ascertain the 

Divine Pleasure — A New Departure — Success at Last 105 

XI. 

THE SISTERS OF THE STRANGER. 

A Demand for a New Organization — The Sisters of the Stranger — 
The First Report— Removal to 4 Winthrop Place— Hospital for 
Strangers — The " Fraternals " — Home for Convalescent Men — 
Fresh Air Mission, b- Mis? Saunders— The " Hiawatha Club"— 



CONTENTS. vii 

Page 

" Happy Home" — " Lana Ac Tela Society" — A Plot in a Mora- 
vian Cemetery — The Work Outside of New York — Dorcas — En- 
dowment — List of Officers — Death of Mrs. Vanderbilt — The 
Bazar no 



XII. 

THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

Organization — Transplanted into the Church — Missionary Prayer Meet- 
ings — Table of Average Contributions — Christianity and the 
Golden Rule — Plans of Missionary Work — The Field — Syrian 
Protestant College — The McAll Mission — Seamen's Friend Society 
— Bethany Institute — N. Y. Medical Mission — Tombs Mission — 
The Hebrew Christian Church — East-side Chapel — Miss Whate- 
ley's School — Anglo-Chinese University — Bishop Gobat's School in 
Jerusalem 135 



XIII. 

THE GOSPEL MISSION. 

Origin — Mr. Russell's Experience — Work — The Reading Room — Sun- 
day School — New Quarters — Sewing School — French Service — 
Management — Results 151 

XIV. 

THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETY. 
When Organized — Objects — Meetings — Committees — Results 158 

XV. 

LITERARY OFFSHOOTS. 

Hymn Book — Phoebe Cary Makes a Bantering Remark — Three De- 
partments — Mr. Whittier's Opinion — The Christian Worker — The 
Deems Birthday Book — Lectures — Libraries 163 

XVI. 

MINOR MISCELLANIES. 

Special Collections— The Sociables— The "Story of a Glass Door"— 
A Woman's Terrible Temptation — A Message of Love — "It is 
He !" — Repairs — Another Glass Door — A Letter — A Systematic 
Pastor — A Lively Prayer Meeting — Description of Other Services — 
The Choir — List of Trustees — List of Advisory Council 172 



viii CONTENTS. 

XVII. 

RECEPTION OF THE PASTOR. 

Page 
Dr. Deems Sails for the East — Rev. Edward M. Deems Becomes Tem- 
porary Pastor — A Reception Committee — Address by Joseph J. 
Little, Esq. — Reply by Dr. Deems — Dr. Clarke's Address to Rev. 
E. M. Deems — Rev. E. M. Deems's Reply 188 

XVIII. 

"HOW" AND "WHY." 

Prefatory — From a Jeweler — A Young Man — A Widow — A Young 
Scotchman — Another Young Man — The Father of the Above — A 
Widow — A Trustee — A Business Man — An Artist — A Publisher — 
A Professional Man — A Young Woman — A Former Member of the 
Advisory Council — An Andover Theological Student 206 

XIX. 

WHAT THEN ? 

What Is to Be the Future of the Church of the Strangers ? — Its Results 
— Number of Members — Growth of Fraternal Feeling — North and 
South— Every Church a Church of Strangers — Testimony of Dr. 
Deems Quoted 229 

XX. 

SERMON BY DR. DEEMS 238 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Church of the Strangers Frontispiece. 

Charles F. Deems, D.D., LL.D 14 

Commodore Vanderbilt 26 

Mrs. Frank A. Vanderbilt u 128 

Vanderbilt Memorial Tablet 218 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE 



1866. 

"The Strangers' Sunday Home. 



" T T ISTORY," says Macaulay, " is a compound of 
poetry and philosophy." " Poetry," he 
says elsewhere, "is the art of employing 
words in such a manner as to produce an illusion on 
the imagination." The past, in short, is to be so 
painted on the canvas of history as to produce an 
illusive picture. Sir Walter Scott's historical novels, 
which combine the facts of history with the inven- 
tions of the imagination, and Macaulay's History of 
England, by whose magic the dead past lives again, 
both justify this view of historical writing. In this 
book no pretension is made to reach any high ideal, 
save that of fidelity to truth ; yet it is believed that 
there are passages in the following pages which jus- 
tify the metaphorical title selected for the volume. 

There are romances of Providence. Perhaps one 
of them can be found in the history of the Church of 
the Strangers. 



2 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Our Civil War closed by the surrender of the Con. 
federate forces under General Lee, to the Federal 
forces under General Grant, in April, 1865. At that 
time there was a clergyman of the Southern Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church in North Carolina, who, born 
in Maryland, had been educated in Pennsylvania, 
married to a New York lady in New Jersey ; and 
had spent all his life from twenty years of age in 
North Carolina There he had been General Agent 
for the American Bible Society, Professor in the State 
University, and President of the Greensboro Female 
College, which had greatly flourished under his ad- 
ministration. These positions naturally made him 
well acquainted with the whole State, and created for 
him friends in every circle. He had been honored 
by his church with every ecclesiastical position in its 
gift, except that of bishop, and had been spoken of 
for the episcopacy. In the discussion which brought 
on the War, he opposed the secession of his State ; 
but when North Carolina seceded, after Virginia 
had withdrawn from the Union, he was loyal to the 
government which had been established, and he did 
all he could for the Confederacy ; when that suc- 
cumbed, he immediately employed the advantages of 
his position for reconstruction in Church and State. 

In the progress of the War the Federal Govern- 
ment had sequestrated all the debts due citizens of 
the United States by persons living in the Confed- 
erate States. The latter instituted a similar process. 
In the year before the War, Dr. Deems had spent 
six months in Europe, and in that time the person 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 3 

whom he had left in charge of his affairs in North 
Carolina had contracted debts in the North. When 
called upon, Dr. Deems made a sworn statement of 
the items of his indebtedness to New York merchants, 
and at the same time said that if ever the War 
closed he would repay this amount to his Northern 
creditors. During the summer following General 
Lee's surrender, Dr. Deems went to New York to 
arrange for the payment of these debts. From this 
stand-point he was able calmly to examine the po- 
sition in which he stood at home. He had four chil- 
dren ; North Carolina was impoverished ; the people 
were his friends ; but he saw little prospect of doing 
them good, or of educating his children ; while 
he would be a burden on a church that had been ter- 
ribly crippled by the War. In early life, Dr. Deems 
had preached a winter in New York, and made many 
friends. Some still felt kindly towards him. It was 
believed that he could employ his talents in editing 
a paper which might go far toward bringing about a 
good state of feelings between the sections, and at 
the same time support his family and educate his 
children. It was in this view that he at last con- 
cluded to undertake such an enterprise. He returned 
to North Carolina and obtained about $600 in sub- 
scription to the new weekly, which was to be called 
The Watchman. 

It was a bold undertaking. The paper was to 
appear weekly, and to be about the size of the New 
York Observer. Dr. Deems hired a small room at 
119 Nassau Street, and made an engagement with 



4 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Messrs. Gray & Green, printers, corner of Frankfort 
and Jacob Streets, to do his printing; while he and 
his son, now Dr. Frank M. Deems, did all the edit- 
ing, correspondence, book-keeping, and mailing. The 
first number cost half the amount he had brought 
with him from North Carolina, and he had engaged 
to supply several hundred subscribers with the paper 
for one year. He had on him that burden, with a 
family of five persons to support. The first number 
of The Watchman appeared the First of January, 
1866, and fifty-two numbers were brought out. Dr. 
Deems has recently said to a friend ; " No one can 
ever know the agony I endured through that year. I 
had not learned the domestic economies of the city 
at that time, but did everything at the highest price. 
I was compelled to edit the paper and obtain sub- 
scriptions and advertisements enough to meet the 
weekly demand of my printers and of my family. I 
had no office which I could occupy at night, and so 
used to spend my evenings in the billiard room of 
French's Hotel, opposite the Sun office. There was 
warmth there, and I got so used to writing to the 
click of the billiard balls, that when I changed I 
really came to miss their annotating sounds." 

In making his calculations for the success of The 
Watchman, it was very natural for Dr. Deems to 
suppose that upon reconstruction, all the mail service 
would be rehabilitated.. This opinion he shared with 
•a very large majority of thoughtful men of every 
part of the country. Those who recollect that year 
will remember it as one of the blackest in the annals 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 5 

of this country. The conflict between President 
Johnson and Congress disturbed every thing, and 
acrimonious conflicts retarded the reconstruction of 
the country. The mails throughout the South were 
in a most deplorable condition. In some places 
people would be three weeks in getting papers that 
had been mailed in New York. Hoping and toiling, 
Dr. Deems went forward ; but throughout the whole 
year he was coming more and more to the conclusion 
that the state of the country was such that, without 
capital, it would be impossible to maintain so large a 
weekly paper until the times should grow propitious. 
In one year from its beginning, The Watchman 
ceased. From the time that Dr. Deems saw it was 
going to close, he laid aside the subscriptions which 
came in and returned them to the subscribers whose 
time he could not fill out. This scrupulousness, 
naturally, made it harder for him to live. When it 
is learned that he conducted it so long on such prin- 
ciples, without one dollar of capital and any outside 
help, immediately after a long War, in which he had 
been on the losing side, and had conducted it among 
a people who had been on the opposite side ; and 
when it is further known that he created a debt of 
only $2,000, it must be admitted that the opinion of 
the late James Harper, one of the founders of the 
house of Harper Brothers, was correct — that it was 
" the greatest feat of publication ever achieved in 
New York." 

It was amid his terrific struggles with The Watch- 
man that the first steps were made which led towards 



6 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

the 4 ' Church of the Strangers.'' It will be remem- 
bered that Dr. Deems was a clergyman of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South, still in such good 
standing there as to have been elected by his Con- 
ference to the General Conference of his church, 
which was held in New Orleans in April, 1866, at 
which a number of votes were cast for him as Bishop, 
This Conference took him one month from his work 
on The Watchman. He had no ecclesiastical asso- 
ciations in New York ; the differences between the 
Northern and the Southern Methodist Churches never 
were so great, the feelings never so bitter. Dr. 
Deems had been in the Confederacy through the 
whole fight, and, as he once said, walked the streets 
of New York and engaged in his daily work with the 
weight of Andersonville prison around his neck. 
Neither his own family nor Southern people coming 
to purchase goods could attend church in New York ; 
for almost everywhere the pulpit resounded with 
denunciations of " rebels " and the " rebellion," and 
the voice of the Gospel seemed hushed in the land. 
Dr. Deems relates that every Sunday through the 
winter and spring he had received a lashing in church. 
One Sunday afternoon, as he was then boarding in 
15th Street, he went to St. George's Church, of 
which the senior Dr. Tyng was rector. He was very 
tired, having worked hard during the week. The 
sexton refused to show him a seat; he must wait till 
the pewholders were in. He stood twenty minutes, 
until he became so weary that he was compelled to 
return to his room without having the comfort of the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 7 

service. He said that that made him determined if 
ever he had rule in a church, no man should have to 
stand one minute who came in one minute before 
the service opened. Now, 1887, St. George's is a free 
church, free to all strangers. 

Invitations to deliver addresses began to reach the 
Doctor. The American Bible Society, which had 
sent him as its General Agent to North Carolina, 
asked him to make a speech at its anniversary ; this 
called attention to him afresh. There were noble 
Christians who rose above sectional strife and acknowl- 
edged Christianity wherever they saw its fruits. 

On Sunday, July 15, 1866, Dr. Deems was invited 
to preach a sermon before the Young Men's Christian 
Association of the Hedding Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Jersey City. Among those who were pres- 
ent was the wife of Mr. Frerichs, the artist. That 
lady had known the Doctor when he was President of 
the College in Greensboro, N. C. ; but had not seen 
him for years. After hearing this sermon she followed 
him to the house where he was dining, and accompanied 
him to the ferry-boat, and employed the time with im- 
portunities that he should begin preaching regularly in 
New York. H13 replies, that there was no church of 
his denomination in the city; that there would be no 
propriety in attempting to establish a Southern Meth- 
odist Church ; that he was making a violent effort to 
support his family, and pay his debts ; seemed to make 
no impression upon her. She spoke as if she regarded 
herself a prophetess sent to direct a servant of the 
Lord. As they parted she concluded her appeal by 



8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 

saying: "I am very sure that God intends you to 
preach in New York. I do beg of you to promise me 
that you will preach just four weeks somewhere in 
New York, even if it's in a garret, or a cellar, or a 
tub ! " The promise was extorted that an effort 
would be made to gratify her desire. 

In accordance with this promise, next day Dr. 
Deems went to the University on Washington Square 
(of which institution he is now one of the Councilors) 
to see what he could do. He had seen the announce- 
ment of some preaching there. Upon his arrival he 
found a quiet, meek-mannered little janitor. The 
Doctor asked him if a place for preaching could be 
hired in the University. " For whom ? " inquired the 
janitor, inspecting the Doctor from head to foot. 
" For me," was the reply. " No," said the janitor; 
" we have no place to suit you" This janitor died 
shortly after, and Dr. Deems never became well 
enough acquainted with him to ask what he meant 
by stating that there was no place that would suit 
him. It appeared that while the eloquent Rev. 
Dr. Hawks was occupying the large chapel of the 
University, an eccentric preacher was holding forth 
every Sunday afternoon in the smaller chapel, and 
that the latter apartment could be obtained for morn- 
ing service, at $25 a month. That seemed to be with- 
in his reach ; at any rate, he determined to give, 
out of his poverty, that m.uch to the Lord. On Sat- 
urday, July 2 1st, he put this notice in the New York 
Herald: "The Rev. Dr. Deems, of North Carolina, 
will preach in the chapel of the University to-morrow 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 9 

at 11 o'clock." On Sunday, July 22, 1866, he re- 
paired to the chapel, where he had to be his own sex- 
ton and precentor, and employed in the service such 
hymns as everybody knew, for there were no books. 
The congregation consisted of sixteen persons. The 
persons not of the preacher's family were, it is be- 
lieved, the following: Mr. W. H. Chase, Mr. Clement 
Disosway, Mrs. and Miss Frerichs, Mr. Nehemiah 
Pratt, Gen. Richardson, of Tennessee ; J. M. Roberts, 
Dr. N. W. Seat, Mr. S. T. Taylor, Mrs. Mary E. 
Tucker, Mr. W. J. Woodward, Mr. A. C. Worth. [Six 
are dead, 1886.] The text was, " Philip went down to 
the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them." 
At the conclusion of the service it was announced 
that the Doctor would preach on the next Sunday, 
and on the following Saturday the announcement was 
repeated in the Herald. On Sunday, the 29th, there 
were over thirty persons present. On Sunday, August 
5th, there were over seventy persons present. As the 
preacher's promise did not bind him beyond the 
month, and as he saw no way of continuing this work, 
he announced at the close of the service, that for three 
weeks he had enjoyed Paul's pleasure of preaching in 
his own hired house, but that Paul must have found 
tent-making in the East more profitable than the 
preacher found journalism in the West, and that con- 
sequently the next Sunday would close this series of 
sermons, as he could not afford to preach for nothing 
and supply a place for service. A large number of 
those who had been attracted to the service were 
Southerners. One of them, Gen. Richardson, of Ten- 



io A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

nessee, asked the Doctor whether, if a place were pro- 
vided, he would continue to preach ; and the reply 
was, that the preacher's Sundays were wholly unoc- 
cupied and he would willingly preach for those who 
desired to hear him. Whereupon it was proposed that 
a collection be taken up, and that Dr. Deems be re- 
quested to continue preaching. • The collection a little 
more than paid the month's rent. On the following 
Sunday, the 1 2th of August, the chapel was packed ; 
there had dropped in many whose churches were 
closed. It was then proposed that there be some 
regular organization to afford a free place of worship 
for strangers from all parts of the world, who might 
be in the city. 

At the close of the service it was resolved to form 
an executive committee of gentlemen of different de- 
nominations to provide for keeping the place open for 
worship. They had the following card printed, to be 
distributed through the congregation and around the 
neighborhood : — 

"The Strangers' Sunday Home. — In the Chapel 
of the University, Washington Square, New York, 
under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Deems, of 
North Carolina, there is a congregation composed of 
members of the different denominations of Christians- 
Divine service is conducted every Sunday, and no dis- 
tinction of sectarianism is allowed. The worship of 
God is the simple object of the assemblage. It is 
specially designed for strangers who visit the city and 
particular pastoral oversight of the young men who 
have recently engaged in business in New York. A 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. n 

Sunday-School assembles at 9 o'clock, and the public 
service begins punctually at 10J o'clock. The Seats 
are Free. All are cordially invited. Visitors to the 
city, if sick or needing a pastor, can have the services 
of Rev. Dr. Deems, whose residence for the present 
is . 

" This enterprise is maintained wholly by voluntary 
contributions. You are respectfully requested to as- 
sist us. We solicit donations or weekly subscriptions. 
If you are residing in the city, please say how much 
you will pay weekly, and on Sunday deposit your con- 
tribution in the basket, in an envelope, with your 
name upon it, so that you may be duly credited. The 
Executive Committee are : Major C. L. Nelson, 23 
East 37th Street ; Dr. Gardner (of Evans, Gardner & 
Co.), 380 Broadway ; Col. B. B. Lewis (of Lewis, 
Daniel & Co.), 21 Nassau Street; S. T. Taylor, 349 
Canal Street; Dr. Seat, 23 West 31st Street; J. M. 
Roberts (of Ring, Ross & Roberts), 86 Front Street; 
K. M. Murchison, 188 Front Street ; Dr. F. M. Gar- 
rett (of Garrett, Young & Co.), 33 Warren Street ; R. 
C. Daniel (of Lewis, Daniel & Co.), 21 Nassau Street; 
and J. L. Gaines (of Harris, Gaines & Co.), 15 White- 
hall Street." 

It will be observed that the Pastor's residence was 
left in blank ; the income was so small and he was so 
compelled to study small economies that he had to 
look out for the cheapest boarding-place in which he 
and his family could live in any degree of respectabil- 
ity. It is proper to add that a Sunday-School was 
formed in the very beginning, and put into the charge 



of Mr. R. C. Daniel, of Kentucky, of the firm of Lewis, 
Daniel & Co., then brokers in Wall Street. 

The large chapel of the University was a much 
more commodious apartment than the little chapel in 
which we worshiped. It was very beautiful. It has 
since been cut up into rooms for office purposes. At 
that time it was occupied by a Protestant Episcopal 
congregation, in charge of the Rev. Dr. Francis L. 
Hawks. Dr. Hawks was a North Carolinian, and had 
distinguished himself at the bar in his own State be- 
fore he entered the Episcopal Ministry. He had been 
rector of the old St. Thomas Church, when it stood at 
the corner of Broadway and Houston Street. He 
was magnificently gifted ; a man of great natural 
eloquence, of varied learning, and of surprising pow- 
ers of elocution. During the Civil War he had some 
trouble in New York, and had gone to New Orleans. 
On his return to New York his friends rallied about 
him and were preparing to build him a new church, 
the nucleus of which was then the congregation of the 
large chapel of the University. Dr. Hawks died on 
the 26th of September, 1866. In his last illness he 
frequently sent for Dr. Deems. They had both re- 
cently been elected to Chairs in the University of 
North Carolina, and had both declined. In one of 
the latest interviews between the two gentlemen, Dr. 
Hawks said to a friend that his chief ambition had 
been disappointed ; that for years it had been his de- 
.sire to be president of the University of North Caro- 
lina, and have Dr. Deems as his lieutenant, in the 
assurance that they two could make the University 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 13 

one of the greatest institutions in the country. He 
once said : " Dr. Deems, three times I have been 
offered the mitre, and three times have I put it aside. 
Never let your Church make you bishop. God has 
some better thing for you. Your calling is to preach 
Christ, Christ crucified. Pursue that steadily and have 
no doubt that God will give you great success in this 
great city." 



II. 

1867-1868. 
"The Church of the Strangers." 

THE year 1867 was a struggle for existence. 
Upon the death of Dr. Hawks negotiations 
were made for the occupancy of the large 
chapel; but the "Strangers' Sunday Home" could 
not be removed till the first Sunday in May, 1867. 
Its accommodations were then increased four fold, 
but it was still a mere assembly without church 
organization. 

In the autumn of 1867, many persons expecting to 
remain in the city, some a longer, some a shorter time, 
some perhaps permanently, came to Dr. Deems offer- 
ing their church letters ; but there was no " Church." 
These repeated offers led to much thought and 
prayer ; consultation also was had with the authority 
of the Church of which Dr. Deems was then a minister, 
and with other godly and learned persons. The result 
was a determination to organize, in the City of New 
York, a free, independent church of Jesus Christ. On 
the last two Sundays in December, 1867, it was pub- 
licly announced that on the first Sunday in January, 
1868, such a Church would be organized. The follow- 
ing was the paper read by Dr. Deems : — 

" It is probably known to all present that I am a 




**% sk 



jnr- 




U^uM-M ' $**«y 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 15 

minister of the Gospel in good and regular standing 
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a 
member in particular of the North Carolina Annual 
Conference. 

" In July, 1866, at the urgent request of Christian 
people of several denominations, I began preaching 
in the University of this city. At their urgency 
these services were continued until a congregation was 
formed of many who hold this as their regular place of 
worship, and of many others who are in occasional or 
very frequent attendance. The wants of many stran- 
gers visiting New York, and of many residents whose 
ecclesiastical connections have not been permanently 
formed, seem to demand the existence of such an in- 
stitution. So strong is the conviction of intelligent 
and devout people that such an undertaking should 
be persevered in, that they united in a request to the 
Bishops of the Church of which I am a clergyman, that 
I might be returned as Pastor of this flock which 
God's providence has seemed to commit to my charge. 
In accordance with this expressed wish the Bishops, 
at their Annual Meeting, directed me to remain, and 
in accordance with that action the Bishop presiding 
at the session of my Conference, lately held, has ap- 
pointed me to this work. 

;< That all things may be done decently and in order, 
as the Apostle Paul directs, it appears to be neces- 
sary that some organization be made which shall give 
us a place among the churches of Jesus Christ. All 
of you who are communicants naturally desire to be 
acknowledged as regular members of the Church Mili- 



1 6 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

tant, and that when Providential circumstances indi- 
cate the necessity of removal, you may be able to bear 
with you the evidence of having been orderly disciples 
of Christ, and under Christian pastoral direction. 

" In the XlXth Article of the Church of England, 
and in the XHIth Article of the ' Articles of Relig- 
ion ' of the Church of which I am a minister, it is set 
forth that — l The visible Church of Christ is a congre- 
gation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God 
is preached and the Sacraments duly administered 
according to Christ's ordinance in all those things 
that of necessity are requisite to the same.' 

" In the preface to the Book of Common Prayer 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America, it is said that — ■ It is a most 
invaluable part of that blessed liberty wherewith 
Christ hath made us free, that in this worship 
different forms and usages may, without offense, 
be allowed, provided the substance of the Faith be 
kept entire : and that in every Church what cannot be 
clearly determined to belong to doctrine must be re- 
ferred to Discipline, and therefore, by common con- 
sent and authority, may be altered, abridged, enlarged, 
amended, or otherwise disposed of as may seem most 
convenient for the edification of the people according 
to various exigencies of times and occasions.' 

" In its ' Form of Government,' Chapter II,, Section 
IV., published with its i Confession of Faith,' the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
sets forth that — ' A particular church consists of a 
number of Professing Christians with their offspring, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 17 

voluntarily associated together for divine worship 
and godly living, agreeably to the Holy Scriptures, 
and submitting to a certain form of government.' 

" Christianity exists subjectively in the rule of Christ 
in simple individuals, objectively as an ' organized 
visible society, as a kingdom of Christ on Earth, as 
a Church.' ' The word church like the Scotch kirk, 
the German kirchc, the Swedish kyrkc, and like terms 
in the Slavonic languages, must be derived through 
the Gothic, from the Greek nvpianov, i c., belonging 
to the Lord. It may signify the material house of 
God, or the local congregation, or, in the complex 
sense, the organic unity of all believers.' 

" Believing these to be correct statements of the 
truth as touching this matter in the liberty where- 
with Christ has made us free, in the fear of God, and 
that, for your edification the Gospel may be preached 
and the sacraments duly administered and orderly dis- 
cipline maintained, it is proposed that all who are like- 
minded do form themselves into a congregation of 
Christian people, of which I am to be the Pastor so 
long as the Providence of God and the authorities of 
my own branch of Christ's Church shall continue me 
in this special office and ministry. 

" That I may surely know who are minded to be 
thus under my pastoral charge, I shall, if God will, on 
the next Lord's day, being the first Sunday in Janu- 
ary, A.D., 1868, receive into this Society all the fol- 
lowing persons, to wit : 

" (1) Such as present letters showingtheir good stand- 
in any branch of God's visible Church ; (2) such as de- 



1 8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

clare that they have so been and desire so now to be, 
but by reason of circumstances which they could not 
control are not able to present letters of membership ; 
and (3) such as desire to join upon their sincere and 
hearty profession of faith in that statement of Chris- 
tian Doctrines commonly known as the ' Apostles' 
Creed,' and of an earnest ' desire to flee from the 
wrath to come and to be saved from their sins.' 

"It is understood (1) that all such applicants have been 
baptized or desire to receive Christian baptism, in such 
mode as they may of conscience elect, by sprinkling, 
pouring, or immersion ; (2) that all things thereafter 
necessary for the proper ordering of the -things which 
Christ hath appointed to His church, shall, so far as 
this congregation of faithful people may be concerned, 
be by them determined 'according to the various 
exigencies of times and occasions ;' (3) that nothing 
hereby or herein done shall be considered as affect- 
ing the relations to any branch of Christ's Church 
now held by any, except so far as they themselves 
shall choose, nor as in any way or degree touching 
the ecclesiastical relations of the Pastor, or as modi- 
fying the present position or relations of such pew- 
holders in this chapel,*"" or other attendants upon the 
ministry in this congregation as may not feel perfectly 
free to enter this Christian Society. 

" Wherefore, as many as desire to avail themselves 
of the benefit of this organization will present them- 
selves on the next Lord's day at the Holy Com- 

* This alludes to a few persons to whom, by special arrangement, 
pews had been let by the Committee. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 19 

munion, that their names may be taken and registered 
as members of the Christian Society to be known for 
the present by the name which in the past has dis- 
tinguished it, ' The Church of the Strangers.' " 

On the fifth day of January, 1868, the following 
thirty-two persons enrolled themselves according to 
the terms in the above paper, and formed themselves 
into the " Church of the Strangers ; " whereupon the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered : 

Mrs. Amelia E. Backett, Miss Susan Backett (Mrs. 
Potter), Mrs. Mary Brown, Mrs. Mary Day, Mrs. Anna 
D. Deems, Francis M. Deems, Miss Mary L. Deems 
(Mrs. Verdery), Edward M. Deems (Pastor West- 
minster Church, New York), Miss Catherine Dewitt, 
Mrs. Clara Frerichs, Mrs. Mary F. Gillespie, Miss Cor- 
delia Gillespie (Mrs. Berminghanr, Wm. S. Harper, 
Mrs. Mary F. Home, Mr. N. J. W. LeCato, Mr. B. 

B. Lewis, Mrs. Juliet Lewis, Mrs. Hannah L. Lloyd, 
Mr. John McNair, Mrs. Lydia A. Massey, Mrs. Annie 
McDonald, Mr. Charles L. Nelson, Mrs. Henrietta 
S. Nelson, Prof. Charles S. Stone (Cooper Union), 
Mrs. Helen O. Stone, Miss Cecile Sturtevant, Mr. 
Samuel T. Taylor, Mr. Eugene Thumm, Gen. John 

C. Vaughan, Mr. Wm. J. Woodward, Mrs. Sallie K. 
Woodward, Rev. James Young. Of these thirty-two, 
there are now living — March, 1 887 — seventeen persons. 



III. 

1869-1870. 

A Princely Gift. 

' ' For he loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue!' — Luke, 

7:5- 

THE MERCER STREET CHURCH. 

THE Mercer Street Church was organized by the 
Third Presbytery of New York, October 25, 
1835, with twenty-eight members, coming 
from six different churches, but the great majority 
of them from the Laight Street Church, a branch of 
the Spring Street Church. 

During the summer of 1834, a fine house of wor- 
ship had been erected on Mercer Street, near Waverly 
Place, and the congregation went immediately into 
their new home. A call was given to Rev. Thomas 
H. Skinner, D.D., LL.D., at the time Professor of 
Sacred Rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary. 
He accepted the call, and on November 11, 1835, 
was installed as first Pastor of the new Church. The 
congregation and membership grew rapidly in num- 
bers and wealth, and at the end of Dr. Skinner's pas- 
torate, February 17, 1 848, there were over five hun- 
dred members on the roll. Dr. Skinner resigned to 
take the Professorship of Sacred Rhetoric, Pastoral 
Theology, and Church Government in Union Theo- 
logical Seminary. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 21 

Rev. J. C. Stiles, D.D., LL.D , succeeded Dr. 
Skinner, and was installed June 8, 1848, coming from 
the Shockoe Hill, now Grace Street Church, Rich- 
mond, Va. Dr. Stiles' health failing him, he was com- 
pelled to resign his charge, which he did October 15, 
1850. He accepted a general agency for the Ameri- 
can Bible Society in the South, and subsequently 
occupied a pastorate in New Haven, Conn., and then 
took the lead in organizing the Southern Aid Soci- 
ety, to give support to feeble churches in the South. 
In his latest years he labored as an evangelist in Vir- 
ginia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, and 
Maryland. 

Rev. Dr. George L. Prentiss became the third Pas- 
tor, and was installed April 30, 185 1, resigning on 
account of ill health May 3, 1858. x\fter two years 
spent abroad, Dr. Prentiss returned, and by earnest 
work gathered about him a new Church, now the 
Church of the Covenant, Rev. Dr. Marvin R. Vincent, 
present Pastor. He became Pastor of this Church in 
1862, and resigned in 1873 to accept his present po- 
sition as Professor of Pastoral Theology, etc., in Union 
Theological Seminary. 

Rev. Dr. Walter Clarke was installed as Dr. Pren- 
tiss's successor in Mercer Street, February 16, 1859, 
and resigned December 26, i860. He was succeeded 
by Rev. Dr. Russell Booth, who was Pastor when the 
property passed to the Church of the Strangers. 

The whole number of persons admitted to mem- 
bership in this Church was two thousand and twenty- 
six, of whom seven hundred and forty-nine made 



22 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

profession of faith, and twelve hundred and seventy- 
seven were received by certificate. 

In 1869 the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church 
engaged lots from the Columbia College Corporation, 
on which to erect a church for themselves. The ac- 
complishment of the latter object would throw their 
church on the market. But the proposed new church 
was never built. On the 16th day of September, 
1870, the Presbytery of New York united the " Mercer 
Street Presbyterian Church " with the " First Presby- 
terian Church on University Place." By the terms 
of the union the new Church was called '" The Presby- 
terian Church on University Place," and the Elders 
and Deacons of the former Churches became the 
Elders and Deacons of the new Church. Rev. Rob- 
ert Russell Booth, D.D., who had been Pastor of the 
Mercer Street Church since 1861, was duly installed 
by the Presbytery on October 30, 1870, as Pastor of 
the Union Church. 

In the meantime the Mercer Street Church had 
offered their property to Dr. Deems for §65,000, 
through his friend, the late Gen. James Lorimer 
Graham, who was a member of the University Place 
Presbyterian Church. Dr. Deems offered them $50,- 
000 for the property. Their Pastor, Rev. Dr. Booth, 
said he would rather Dr. Deems should have it for 
$50,000 than any other person for $60,000. 

An important Providential factor in the history of 
the Church of the Strangers must now be intro- 
duced. One Sunday, after service in the chapel of 
the University, two ladies were in attendance, who, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 23 

after the service, were introduced to Dr. Deems by 
the Rev. Dr. Charles K. Marshall, of Vicksburg, as 
" Mrs. Crawford and her daughter, of Mobile." These 
ladies were visiting New York, and became interested 
in Dr. Deems as a clergyman of their own denomi- 
nation. The younger of these ladies, in the summer 
of 1869, became the wife of the late Cornelius Van- 
derbilt. Mr. Vanderbilt's residence was on the block 
next adjoining the University, but he never came to 
the services in that chapel. In the days of his youth 
Mr. Vanderbilt had received favors from the father of 
Dr. Deems's wife, and had met the Doctor once 
before the War, in i860, and was so impressed with 
what occurred at the interview that he repeated the 
conversation a few days before he died. This com- 
bination of circumstances, and the late acquaintance- 
ship and a new wife to whom he was most sincerely 
devoted, led the Commodore to regard the work for 
the strangers with favor. He urged Dr. Deems to 
visit him, and often catechized him closely as to his 
views and plans. He admired the breadth of this 
new religious society, and believed in the orthodoxy 
of its Pastor. 

The Commodore had never been a member of any 
Church ; had been a very worldly and even profane 
man ; but he had from his earliest childhood the 
most unshaken faith in the Bible as the inspired 
Word of God. He became impatient at any contra- 
diction of this idea ; he regarded that man untrust- 
worthy who did not receive the Bible as the Word of 
God. Towards the close of life, when he was in 



24 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

great agony, he expressed the fear that after his 
death it might be supposed that he had been influ- 
enced on that question by his friend and Pastor, 
and so he said to him : " Doctor, when I am gone I 
leave you to do justice to my memory, I want it 
known that I always believed the Bible, and on that 
subject you have had no more influence over me 
than this fan which I hold in my hand." Al- 
though he did become more attentive to religious 
matters and more devout before his death, yet at this 
period of our history he believed that there was such 
a thing as genuine religion, and that it was founded 
upon a belief in the Bible as the Word of God. 
Somehow he heard of the movement upon the 
part of the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church, and 
made up his mind to put it under the control of 
Dr. Deems. We cannot do better than to give the 
Doctor's account of the presentation in his own 
words, as reported in the Homiletic Monthly, of New 
York, July, 1880, and afterward republished in a 
London periodical, from which it is here reproduced : 

" A short time before he started for the East, our 
reporter called on Rev. Dr. Deems to learn from him 
how he came in possession of the Church of the 
Strangers. The following is his account : 

" Well, said he, the manual of the Church shows how 
I came to be preaching in New York in 1866. Before 
the organization of any Church, and while I was simply 
preaching to strangers,* a lady of high character, liv- 
ing in Mobile, when on a visit to New York always 
attended our service with her daughter. With them 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 25 

I became acquainted. The daughter was that excel- 
lent woman whom Commodore Vanderbilt had the 
good fortune to make his second wife. I had very 
slight personal acquaintance with the Commodore, 
and had not seen him in six or seven years, so I sup- 
posed that I should probably not again meet my fair 
hearers. I learned afterward that it had been in- 
tended that I should celebrate the marriage, and 
that it would have been done but for my absence. 
I also learned, after they had been married some 
weeks and were living within a block of the place 
where I was preaching, that there was a feeling that 
I was neglecting them. I have never gone after rich 
people, nor particularly avoided them ; but when a 
man, conspicuous for wealth or position, desires to 
know me, he must always seek me. That was the 
only thing that had kept me from visiting the Com- 
modore and his new bride. But so soon as I dis- 
covered that it was expected, I called, and was very 
warmly welcomed. 

" The Commodore paid me special attention ; we 
conversed very freely, and I did not hesitate, when 
it was proper, to introduce the subject of religion and 
talk on it — I trust in a natural and proper way. On 
all the visits the Commodore catechized me carefully 
about my preaching, my past history and my expec- 
tations of the future. He was always answered frankly. 
One evening in the sitting-room the conversation ran 
upon clerical beggars. I acknowledged that in early 
life I had had some reputation in that line, but that I 
deprecated the whole business. ' Now,' said I, 



26 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

1 here I am. Have been preaching two years almost 
within earshot of the Commodore. The rooms which 
I have occupied have been overrun with hearers. 
People have often said to me : " Why don't you see 
Mr. Lenox, or Mr. Stewart, or Mr. Astor, or Commo- 
dore Vanderbilt, and ask them to build you the church 
of the strangers? They ought to do it for the good 
of the city." And yet,' I added, ' the Commodore 
here will bear me witness that I have never solicited 
a dollar from him for any object on earth.' Touch- 
ing his wife, he said : ' Frank, that is so ; the Doctor 
never has;' and gave a look at his wife as much as 
to say that he wished by that observation to raise 
me in her estimation. The look evidently said that it 
had raised me in his. And I added : \ And, Mrs. Van- 
derbilt, so long as there is breath in his body, I never 
shall.' Evidently he did not quite understand my re- 
mark, and changed his expression into one of those 
steely looks of his which were very piercing and very 
subduing; but I never faltered — turning the whole thing 
off in a jocose manner, by saying : ' For, if he has 
lived to attain his present age and has not got the 
sense to see what I need and the grace to send it to 
me, he will die without the sight!' We all smiled 
at that, and the conversation changed. 

" On a subsequent visit I met Daniel Drew at the 
house. It was shortly after one of the great financial 
battles between Commodore Vanderbilt and Mr. Drew. 
The lion and the tiger were lying down a little while 
together. Mr. Drew had repeatedly attended the ser- 
vice I was holding in the University chapel, and had 




COMMOBORK VASTDERBTI/r. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 27 

echoed Mrs. Vanderbilt's earnest praises of the use- 
fulness of our little congregation. The Commodore 
catechised me closely as to my views of Christian work, 
and I answered him to the best of my ability and with 
frankness. About that time the Mercer Street Pres- 
byterian Church had negotiated for lots uptown be- 
longing to Columbia College, and had put their own 
edifice upon the market. Its Pastor, Dr. Booth, had 
always seemed friendly to me. My friend, James 
Lorimer Graham, Esq., conversed with me about 
purchasing it, and I had authorized him to offer $50,- 
000. Somehow this had got to the Commodore's ears, 
but I did not know it, and did not intend to ask him for 
a cent. My impressions of his character at that time 
were, at least, not favorable. I regarded him as an 
unscrupulous gatherer of money, a man who aimed 
at accumulating an immense fortune, and had no very 
pious concern as to the means. The few interviews 
I had had with him after his marriage had modified 
my opinions of the man. I discovered fine points of 
which I had no suspicion. But still I was a little 
afraid of him. 

" On this particular Monday evening of which I 
speak, he walked to the sitting-room door with me, as 
his wont was, and as I passed out he said : ' Doctor, 
come and see me to-morrow night.' 

" ' I can't, Commodore.' 

" ' Why can't you ? ' said he, in the tone of a man 
not accustomed to be refused. 

" ' Because,' said I, ' there are a couple of boys from 
the South here who have come to be clerks and they 



28 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 

have no friends, and I have asked them to my board- 
ing-house to become acquainted with my family; 
hoping by this social tie to bind them to a virtuous 
course of living.' 

"'Well, then,' said he, ' come around the next 
night.' 

" 1 1 can't, Commodore,' was my reply. 

" ' Why can't you ? ' 

" ' Because every Wednesday night I have a little 
prayer-meeting in the Bible House, never more than 
thirteen or fourteen, but almost invariably four or five 
being present, and I can't disappoint them.' 

" ' Well,' said he, '"come around Thursday night.' 

" ' I can't, Commodore.' 

" ' Why? ' he asked with a good-natured growl. 

"' Because,' said I, 'I have engaged to marry a 
couple of very poor people on the west side of the 
town, and it would never do to disappoint them. You 
know how that is yourself,' alluding to the fact of his 
recent marriage, and of his not being able to find me 
to perform his marriage ceremony. 

"'Well,' said he, pleasantly, 'Doctor, come when 
you can.' 

" Having pondered over the impressiveness and rep- 
etition of his invitations, I concluded I would go on 
the following Saturday evening, to make a call in ac- 
knowledgment of his hospitality. It was about eight 
o'clock. There were .visitors. I sat about half an 
hour conversing with the circle, when I arose to go, 
telling the Commodore that on Saturday evening 
ministers of the Gospel ought to be quiet in their 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 29 

studies, preparing themselves for the pulpit, and that 
I had simply called around to thank him for his kind 
invitations on the preceding Monday. He invited 
me into a little office adjoining his bedroom, and sat 
down upon one side of the table and pointed me to a 
seat on the other. He said : ' Doctor, what is this 
about that Mercer Street property ? ' 

"'Well,' said I, 'Commodore, only this: It is in 
the market. They want $65,00x3 for it, and I vent- 
ured to offer them $50,0x30. It is on leased ground, 
and I think it is about worth that/ 

" ' Well,' said he, 'how much have you got toward 
your $50,000 ? ' 

" I felt in my pocket and playfully said : 
" ' Well, sir, as near as I can judge, about seventy- 
five or eighty cents.' 

" ' How do you expect to pay for it then ?' 
"'Well, Commodore, this is my thought about it. 
I have been here preaching some little time. My 
work seems to prosper. I shall propose to the Mercer 
Street Presbyterian Church to let me have their 
building for six months. I shall preach in it those six 
months. I shall announce to the people of New York 
that I wish to establish, on an unsectarian basis, a 
free Church for all comers, especially for strangers in 
the city — a Church that shall be evangelical and un- 
denominational ; and I shall appeal for the money in 
large sums and small. Now, Commodore, if God 
wants me to stay in New York and do this work to 
which my heart seems to be inclined, the money will 
come. If not, the Mercer Street brethren have only 



30 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

lost the use of their property six months, and it will 
have been employed in Christian work. But I believe 
the money will come and the Church go on/ 

" He looked me straight in the eye, and said : 

" ' Doctor, I'll give you the church ! ' 

" I was mad in a minute. I had not been made 
so angry since I reached New York. I thought that 
Commodore Vanderbilt desired to obtain that prop- 
erty for some railroad or other business purpose, or 
for his estate — that he had some deep design, and 
chose to put me forward., supposing that I was a 
greenhorn of a parson from the pine forests of North 
Carolina, and he could use me. I fired up, and, 
leaning upon the table, looked him straight in the 
eye, and said : ' Commodore Vanderbilt, you don't 
know me ! There is not any man in America rich 
enough to have me for a chaplain.' I shall never 
forget the look he returned. He had been accus- 
tomed to be solicited. Here he was, making the 
largest offer of charity he ever had made, and found 
a man refusing to accept $50,000 ! It was an amazed 
and quizzical look. 'It was the look of a man who 
had a new sensation, and could not tell whether he 
was enjoying it or not. As soon as he could frame 
a reply, he said : ' Doctor, I don't know what you 
mean. Me have a chaplain ! The Lord knows I've 
got as little use for a chaplain as any other man you 
ever saw. I want to give you this church, and give 
it to you only. Now, will you take it ? ' 

" I paused a moment, and felt that, perhaps, I had 
made a mistake in the man, and then said: 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 31 

" * Commodore, I should not like to be under so 
great a pecuniary obligation to any gentleman, that, 
when I had the guns of the Gospel directed against 
the breastworks of any particular sin, and should see 
his head rising above them, I should be tempted to 
suspend my fire, or change the range of my shot.' 

" ' Doctor,' said he, ' I would not give you a cent 
if I did not believe that you were so independent a 
man that you would preach the Gospel'as honestly 
to one man as to another. Now, I believe that, and 
I want to give you the church.' 

" After the discharge of the lightning of my anger, 
I felt that a sort of April shower was coming. My 
eyes were moistening. It seemed to me a wonderful 
Providence ; and you know we always think it is a 
wonderful Providence if it runs with our ideas. I ex- 
tended my hand and said , ' Commodore, if you give 
me that church for the Lord Jesus Christ, I'll most 
thankfully accept it.' 

" ' No,' said he ; ' Doctor, I would not give it to you 
that way, because that would be professing to you a 
religious sentiment I do not feel. I want to give you 
a church. That's all there is. It is one friend doing 
something for another friend. Now, if you take it 
that way, I'll give it to you.' 

" We both rose at the same moment, and I took his 
hand and I said: ' Commodore, in whatever spirit you 
give it, I am deeply obliged, but I shall receive it in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.' 

" ' Oh, well,' said he, ' let us go in the sitting-room 
and see the women.' 



32 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

" It so happened that the Mercer Street brethren 
were disappointed in their movement, and I felt in 
honor compelled to withdraw any claim I might have 
on what had occurred before, and for a considerable 
time after they occupied their church. After that 
long and tiresome suspense, again the church was 
offered me. I did not know that the Commodore had 
not changed his mind. I had not talked with him on 
the subject "since I announced that I was compelled to 
give up the church. But when the time came I 
walked in and said : ' Commodore, this church is again 
in the market, and I can get it if I renew my propo- 
sition to them.' 

" Said he : 

" ' Offer them the $50,000 cash. The property is 
worth it, and always will be worth it, even with the 
ground-rent. Fix the day for the transfer.' 

" Through my friend, the late Gen. James Lorimer 
Graham, this was done. The Commodore went to 
Saratoga. I communicated to him the day when the 
papers were to be made. He directed me to call at 
his office, which I did, and when I entered his clerk, 
Mr. Wardell, said : ' Doctor, here is a package con- 
taining $50,000 of money from Commodore Vander- 
bilt for you.' 

" I said to him : 

" ' Do you know what this $50,000 is for ? ' 

"' No, sir, I don't.' * 

" ' Didn't the Commodore tell you ? ' 

'"No, sir.' 

" ' Shall I give you a receipt ? ' 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 33 

"'No, sir.' 

" ' Why don't you take a receipt ? ' 

" ' The Commodore didn't tell me to take one.' 

"And that is the way I got the Church of the 
Strangers. I desired to have it put in charge of a 
body of trustees of prominent gentlemen selected 
from the principal Churches in New York ; but the 
Commodore refused to do so, saying : 

" ' No. You hammer away at some of those fellows 
about their sins, and they will turn around and be- 
devil you, so that you will have to quit the church. 
I am going to give it to you personally.' 

" He subsequently made the deeds of settlement so 
that the pastor should have a life estate in the prop- 
erty, and that at his death it should fall into the 
hands of the trustees of the Church of the Strangers 
appointed according to law. And thus we got the 
church. 

" He lived seven years after that, and never by 
deed or word or look did he make me feel that he 
felt that I was under obligation to him. On the 
contrary, from that day forth he always treated me 
as one gentleman treats another who has done him 
a very great favor. It was done in a princely style, 
and I do believe God paid him and his family a 
thousand-fold in many ways." 



IV. 

1870. 

New Quarters. 

THE events of the last chapter took place during 
the summer of 1870. The Pastor at once set 
to work making the necessary repairs. As for 
several years the congregation which had been occu- 
pying the building had been expecting to make some 
arrangement for removal, the property was neglected, 
and very much had to be done. $10,000 should have 
been expended upon it, but the Pastor ventured only 
half that amount, and supervised all the repairs. He 
had so little trained his people to work, having had 
nothing for them to work upon, that he was compelled 
to do nearly the whole of this alone, while continuing 
his ministration in the little chapel. Not an officer 
of the Church visited the premises during the repairs. 
When all was done, he went to his friend, Commo- 
dore Vanderbilt, and told him that the repairs were 
all finished, and that service would be held on the 
first Sunday of the next month, October, and that it 
had cost $5,000 to make the repairs. The Commo- 
dore said : " Well, Doctor, how are you going to pay 
for it?" The reply was; "I do not know, sir," — for 
the Doctor thought probably the Commodore would 
assume the debt. Instead of doing so, he said: 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 35 

" Neither do I." It afterwards transpired that the 
Commodore did this to try the Pastor's " pluck," 
and further to satisfy himself that his confidence in 
the Doctor's ability was not misplaced. The Pastor 
arose, saying, " But I will pay it, Commodore," — 
and left. He went immediately down into Wall 
Street, and through a friend, Mr. Charles W. Keep, 
borrowed the money on his own personal credit, and 
paid for all the material used and all the work done 
in repairing the building. This load he bore for 
some time before he could obtain enough, above what 
was necessary annually for the running of the Church, 
to liquidate the debt, but it was finally accomplished. 
On Sunday, the 28th of August, the Sunday School 
had taken possession of its department in the chapel, 
under the superintendency of Mr. William J. Wood- 
ward. The building which the "Church of the 
Strangers " was now to occupy is of historical 
interest. When that portion of the city was almost 
in the country, and a number of members of the old 
Brick Church,"" which was then under the pastorate 
of Dr. Gardiner Spring, separated themselves in order 
to build a new up-town church, they selected this 
spot. To that congregation, and to the old St. 
Mark's Episcopal Church, in the Bowery, almost all 
the principal families of the city belonged. To the 
new Presbyterian Church the Rev. Dr. Thomas E. 
Skinner, as we have seen, was called as its first 
Pastor. 



*This Church occupied the block now covered by the " Potter 
and " Times " buildings. 



36 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

The great revival services under the Rev. Dr. Kirk, 
in 1 839-1 840, had taken place within those walls. 
In what is now the Pastor's study, in the chapel 
facing on Greene Street, were heard the first classes 
of the Union Theological Seminary, which now has a 
noble residence at 1200 Park Avenue. All the com- 
mencements of the Theological Seminary were held 
here until 1871. In what is now the parlor of the 
church there was a Sunday School, in which men and 
women who have since distinguished themselves in 
Church work, in literature, and in the department of 
teaching, received their training. 

We are indebted to Mr. R. R. McBurney, Secre- 
tary of the Y. M. C. A. in this city, for the following 
facts : 

" On the evening of May 28, 1852, a meeting was 
held in the lecture-room of what is now the Church 
of the Strangers, which had been called by a few 
young men, members of evangelical Churches in this 
city, who had previously, on several occasions, met 
together to consider the propriety of forming a Young 
Men's Christian Association. About three hundred 
young men assembled at that time, who manifested 
a deep interest in the object ; and it became evident 
that such an association might be formed with every 
prospect of usefulness. 

"The chair was occupied by Rev. G. T. Bedell, 
D.D., then Rector of the Church of the Ascension, 
Tenth Street and Fifth Avenue, now Protestant 
Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, who expressed a fervent 
interest in the cause. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 37 

" Rev. C. J. Warren also took part in the exercises ; 
and an admirable address was delivered by the late 
Rev. Isaac Ferris, D.D., then Pastor of the Market 
Street Reformed Dutch Church, which embodied a 
lucid exhibition of the nature and the probable bene- 
fits of the proposed organization. 

" After the address, the names of one hundred and 
seventy-three young men were enrolled as members, 
J. W. Benedict, Esq., acting as chairman. 

" At several successive meetings, held in the same 
place, the proposed Constitution was brought for- 
ward, and after being fully discussed, was finally 
adopted in nearly its present shape. 

" On the evening of the 30th of June, 1852, the 
Association was permanently organized by the elec- 
tion of its officers. 

" From the pulpit of the church was delivered the 
first Annual Sermon before the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, by Rev. Dr. Ferris, who was after- 
ward Chancellor of the University of the City of New 
York." 

THE OPENING. 

On Sunday, October 2, 1870, the Church of the 
Strangers was duly opened. The following account 
of the opening exercises is taken from the three pro- 
grammes issued during the days of its continuance : 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1870. 

Morning, 10.30 o'clock.— Singing the L. M. Dox- 
ology, " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," 



3 8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

etc. The First Morning Lesson. — The Hymn, " I 
love thy kingdom, Lord," 33d of " Hymns for all 
Christians." The Creed. — Prayer. — By Joseph Hol- 
dich, D.D., American Bible Society. The Second 
Morning Lesson. 

HYMN WRITTEN FOR THE OCCASION BY PKCEBE CARY. 

Come down, O Lord, and with us live ! 

For here with tender, earnest call, 
The Gospel Thou didst freely give, 

We freely offer unto all. 

Come, with such power and saving grace, 

That we shall cry, with one accord, 
" How sweet and awful is this place, 

This sacred temple of the Lord. 

Let friend and stranger, one in Thee, 
Feel with such power Thy Spirit move, 

That every man's own speech shall be, 
The sweet eternal speech of love. 

Yea, fill us with the Holy Ghost, 

Let burning hearts and tongues be given, 

Make this a day of Pentecost, 

A foretaste of the bliss of Heaven ! 

Sermon. — By Robert S. Moran, D.D., Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. Address. — By Abel 
Stevens, D.D., LL.D., Methodist Episcopal Church. 

At the conclusion of the Morning Service, the 
Pastor, in his address, among other things, returned 
thanks for the many attentions the Church had re- 
ceived from its friends, and alluded to the motto in 
the flowers on the Communiontable, " All for Jesus," 
and said that should now be the motto of the 
Church of the Strangers. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 39 

Afternoon, 2.30 o'clock. — Baptism of infants. 
3.00 o'clock. — The Holy Communion, conducted by 
the Pastor, assisted by Thomas H. Skinner, LL.D. ; 
George L. Prentiss, D.D., Pastor of the Church of the 
Covenant ; Robert R. Booth, D.D., Pastor of the 
University Place Presbyterian Church (these three 
gentlemen having been pastors of the Mercer Street 
Church) ; Gardiner Spring, LL.D. ; William B. 
Sprague, D.D. ; John P. Durbin (one of the Secre- 
taries of the Methodist Missionary Society) ; A. C. 
Wedekind, D.D., Pastor of St. James (Lutheran) ; 
Rev. R. Kcenig, of Pesth, Hungary, and other clergy- 
men. 

EVENING, 7.30 o'clock: Prayer. — By Philip Schaff, 
D.D., Prof. Union Theological Seminary. Sermon. — 
By John Cotton Smith, D.D., Rector of the Church 
of the Ascension, Protestant Episcopal. Address. — 
By Mancius C. Hutton, D.D., Pastor Washington 
Square Reformed (Dutch) Church. 

At the conclusion of the Evening Service Dr. 
Deems read the following stanzas, which had been 
sent him during the day : 

"ALL FOR JESUS." 
WRITTEN FOR THE " CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS," BY MBS. M. A. BIDDER. 

This holy, peaceful, Sabbath Day, 
We bow our inmost hearts and pray 

To Thee, O Jesus ! 
And while we give afresh to Thee 
This Christian Church, so broad, so free, 
Our voices and our hearts agree, 

'Tis all for Jesus ! 



40 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

This structure, with its rocky bands, 
This holy temple as it stands. 

Was built for Jesus ! 
The very floor beneath our feet — 
The walls that catch the echoes sweet — 
This pulpit, aye, and every seat, 

Belong to Jesus. 

The Strangers' Church ! the world's wide home 
Where all, yea all, may freely come, 

And learn of Jesus : 
The rich, the poor, the grave and gay, 
The lonely wanderers by the way, 
May bear God's word, and sing and pray 

To blessed Jesus ! 

Oh ! generous heart, that gave so much ; 
Oh ! open hands, whose gentle touch 

Was seen by Jesus ! 
Oh ! sisters kind and brothers true ; 
Oh ! loving friends in every pew, 
Whate'er we've done, whate'er we do, 

Is all for Jesus ! 

MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 3. 

7.30 o'clock, Public Meeting. — Rev. Chancellor 
Ferris presided. Vice-Presidents : Gorham D. Ab- 
bott, LL.D., William H. Alexander, Albert T. Bled- 
soe, LL.D., Nathan Bishop, LL.D., A. T. Briggs, 
Theophilus P. Brouwer, George W. Clarke, Ph.D., 
Charles C. Colgate, Peter Cooper, William C. 
Churchill, A.M., Lyman Denison, Daniel Drew, Cor- 
nelius R. Disosway,* Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, Thomas 
C. Doremus, Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, John Elliott, 
James Lorimer Graham, Richard C. Gardner, Hon. 
Wm. F. Havemeyer, Thomas A. Hoyt, Edward S. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 41 

J affray, Morris K. Jesup, John H. Keyser, Dr. Jared 
Linsly, R. R. McBurney, Belden Noble, Ex-Gov. 
Olden, of N. J., John W. Quincy, John A. Stewart, 
Algernon S. Sullivan, Ex-Gov. Throop, of N. Y., 
John F. Trow, John Elliott Ward, Horace Webster, 
LL.D., A. R. Wetmore, Stewart L. Woodford. 

Prayer. — By George R. Crooks, D.D., Editor of 
The Methodist. 

The meeting was a profoundly interesting one. 
Dr. Deems gave a history of the rise and progress 
of the Church of the Strangers, and of the work 
proposed to be accomplished. He was followed by 
the Rev. Mr. Kcenig, Pastor of a similar Church in 
Pesth, Hungary; and by Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, in a 
most happy address of endorsement and congratula- 
tion ; and by Dr. S. Irenaeus Prime, of the New York 
Observer, in a most touching and beautiful speech. 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4. 

Rev. Dr. Armitage, of the Fifth Avenue Baptist 
Church, preached a most impressive sermon. 

FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 7. 

7.30 o'clock. — Public Temperance Meeting, under 
the direction of the Fidelity Temple of Honor. The 
Grand Worthy Chief Templar, Calvin E. Keach, 
of Rensselaer County, presided. Prayer by Rev. 
Stephen Merritt, Jr., Chaplain of Fidelity Temple. 
Addresses by Templar William S. Stevenson, Rev. C. 
F. Deems, D.D., Hon. B. E. Hale, of Kings County. 
Sacred and temperance songs by a young lady. 



42 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9. 

MORNING, 10.20 o'clock : Prayer. — By Thomas C. 
DeWitt, D.D., Collegiate Reformed Church. Ser- 
mon. — By William E. Munsey, D.D., Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. Address. — By Rev. George J. 
Mingins, Superintendent of City Missions. 

Afternoon, 2.30 o'clock. — Baptism of adults. 
3.00 o'clock. — Sunday School Concert, conducted by 
Philip Phillips. The Address by William H. C. 
Price, Esq., former Superintendent of the School. 

Evening, 7.30 o'clock : Sermon. — By Leonard 
Bacon, D.D., Congregational. Address. — By the 
Pastor. 



w 



V. 

Internal Economy. 

I. MEMBERSHIP. 

HEN any one wishes to join the Church he 
applies to the Advisory Council. The fol- 
lowing is the form of application : 



" In applying for membership in the Church of the 
Strangers, I pledge myself, if accepted, to do what I 
can to promote the prosperity of the Church in all its 
departments ; to continue a weekly subscription to 
the support thereof, as the Lord shall prosper me, so 
long as that is the rule of the Church ; and, whenever 
my address shall be changed, to notify the Pastor 
promptly." 

"Date, 

" Name, 

" Address, 

" Reference, " 

This application is signed by the candidate, in 
duplicate, and when a favorable action is had one 
copy is forwarded to the Pastor and the other to the 
applicant, who is to be present at the ensuing Com- 
munion, when he is presented to the Church and by 



44 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

them received into fellowship. If the applicant have 
a Letter Dismissory from another Church, he refers 
to that ; otherwise satisfactory reference must be 
furnished. 

Before action is taken the candidate is asked the 
following questions : 

i. Have you truly and earnestly repented of your 
sins? 

2. Do you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ as your 
present and sufficient Saviour? 

3. Are you in Love and Charity with all men? And 
especially do you love the society of Christian people ? 

4. Will you endeavor, by God's help, to lead a life 
of holy self-denial and Christian effort for the salvation 
of others? 

5. Have you been baptized? 

Baptism is administered according to the mode 
which satisfies the conscience of the candidate. 

The Advisory Council consists of seven members 
annually nominated by the Pastor and elected by the 
Monthly Meeting. With the Pastor they determine 
the admission of candidates. When in their opinion 
the connection of any one with this Church ceases to 
promote the cause of Christ, and the Pastor concurs, 
the connection is dissolved, and the action is an- 
nounced to the Monthly Meeting, and this is the only 
announcement required. The Pastor cannot alone 
dissolve the connection, neither can the Advisory 
Council: the action must be co-ordinate. 

The Monthly Meeting is the authoritative body of the 
Church. It consists of all the members of the Church. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 45 

At its Annual Meeting, at the close of the year, it 
elects the following officers, viz. : A President, Vice- 
President, and Clerk of the Monthly Meeting ; Trus- 
tees, of whom there are nine, three elected annually ; 
an Advisory Council of seven ; and a Sunday School 
Superintendent. The Advisory Council and the Super- 
intendent of the Sunday School are nominated by the 
Pastor, as they are his assistants in the spiritual de- 
partments of the Church. But the Monthly Meeting 
may refuse to elect any special nominee ; in which 
case the Pastor must make another nomination. All 
other offices are filled on open nomination, by a major- 
ity of the members present. In the election of Trus- 
tees, each contributor to the support of the Church 
has a vote. 

The President of the Monthly Meeting presides at all 
its sessions, and in his absence the Vice-President. If 
neither be present, a President, pro tempore, is elected 
by the meeting. 

No constitution has ever been framed. As any need 
arose it was provided for by special actions. These 
have so shaped the government of the Church, that the 
above may be taken as a description of its organic 
structure. 

There are a few points in the statement which per- 
haps need elucidation. Certain officers are nominated 
by the Pastor, and others are elected without his nomi- 
nation. The Sunday School Superintendent is one 
of the former. The superintendent of a Sunday 
School should be an assistant pastor. The Sunday 
School should be held in the closest relations to the 



46 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Church. The children should be collected therein 
with a view to their becoming church members. That 
is our theory. Now, it is quite easy to see that if the 
office of superintendent were open for promiscuous 
nomination and for election by the whole body of 
church members, there would frequently be superin- 
tendents incompetent for the post, and otherwise ob- 
jectionable ; and this might come to pass without any 
evil intention on the part of anybody. Out of com- 
pliment, a very young man or very young woman, or 
some other unfit person, might be nominated for su- 
perintendent. After the nomination it might seem 
ungracious, it might really give pain, and it might, per- 
haps, make mischief to the Church, if that person were 
not elected. Suppose it were left to the teachers to 
appoint a superintendent : that would tend to make 
the Sunday School a wholly independent body, and 
the Church might be fought by the School. A ma- 
jority of the teachers might not be members of the 
Church. The meetings of the teachers might be used 
to breed discontent with the Church. 

The Church of the Strangers was an experiment 
upon a new line, whblly unknown to its Pastor. With- 
out any precedent by which to work, the Sunday 
School passed through all these difficulties, until the 
Pastor had almost begun to believe that a Sunday 
School was a curse to the church to which it was in 
any wise attached. - It was determined to put the 
nomination in the hands of the Pastor. It was a great 
responsibility, but one which no pastor should refuse. 
Our theory is this : The Pastor is to nominate ; if the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 47 

Monthly Meeting do not confirm the nomination he 
must nominate again ; and so proceed until a Superin- 
tendent is elected. The Superintendent is responsible 
to the Pastor, and has the appointment of each 
teacher. The teacher holds his, or her, place at the 
will of the Superintendent. The Superintendent holds 
his place at the will of the Pastor. 

Since that plan was adopted we have had quiet and 
progress in the Sunday School. 

The Church is not a machine. The Pastor thereof 
is no more a despot than is the father of a family. It 
is to be presumed that his whole soul is engaged in 
promoting the happiness and spiritual prosperity of the 
Church. In selecting a superintendent for nomina- 
tion, it maybe supposed that he would strive to find a 
man who had the natural endowments, the acquired 
qualifications, and the spiritual life necessary for this 
great and delicate work. And then he would strive to 
find some such man, if possible, as would be agreeable 
to the teachers. But if he found a man that ought to 
take the place, though not agreeable to the teachers, 
the teachers could retire ; there is nothing to bind 
them ; but the Sunday School will go on. It saves 
cliques, and heart-burnings, and intrigues. 

The greatest part of the work is on the Pastor, who 
makes the selection ; but if, because he does not like 
to assume that responsibility, he throws it amongst the 
teachers, or into the Church generally, there will most 
certainly come upon him difficulties and troubles much 
greater than those which he will encounter in taking 
the initial step. 



48 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

It is also provided that the Advisory Council shall 
be nominated by the Pastor. The Advisory Council 
are the seven members of the Church who stand near- 
est to the Pastor ; the men with whom he must have 
frequent and confidential interviews in regard to 
matters affecting the most delicate interests of all the 
members. They must be entirely agreeable to him ; 
one single fractious member would destroy the unity 
of the body and obstruct the work of the Pastor. 

At first sight the statement of the functions of the 
Advisory Council may seem harsh, and appear to flavor 
of what people imagine the Star Chamber to have 
been. A majority of the Advisory Council elects a 
candidate to membership if the Pastor concur. A 
majority of the Advisory Council dissolves the con- 
nection of the Church and the member, if the Pastor 
concur. The Pastor cannot of himself enter the name 
of any person, however saintly, on the roll of member- 
ship. The Pastor cannot of himself strike from the 
roll the name of a convicted felon. Neither can a 
majority of the Advisory Council do either of these 
things; but co-ordinately the Pastor and Advisory 
Council may do both. 

Whatever may be the appearance of this arrange- 
ment, in the Church of the Strangers it has worked 
admirably well through a series of years, and, it seems 
to us, would work well under any Pastor who had the 
common sense a man ought to have to be in charge of 
a Church. It is not to be supposed, in the first place, 
that a Pastor would nominate seven men for an Advi- 
sory Council, and that the whole Church would confirm 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 49 

that nomination, if those men were not persons of suf- 
ficient character, judgment, and piety to be entrusted 
with such a function. It is not to be supposed that 
seven men so elected and advertised to the world, and 
responsible both to the Church of the Strangers 
and to public opinion, would find a majority of their 
members willing to do an unjust and unchristian thing 
toward any brother, even the humblest member of the 
Church. It is not to be supposed that a pastor re- 
sponsible to a Church of over six hundred communi- 
cants and to the public would confirm an act of eccle- 
siastical tyranny. 

Congregational and Independent Churches have 
been split by referring such cases to the whole body 
of the Church. It is possible for the worst man in 
any town to enter a Church as a member. We know 
that there is no man brought to trial before a body 
of men, women, and children, numbering several 
hundreds, who could not get up a small, or large, 
party to stand by him. This curse of Church trials 
has been a widespread affliction. We determined to 
have no Church trials in the Church of the Strangers. 

If any brother is walking in such a way as does not 
seem to promote the cause of Christ, the Pastor or the 
Advisory Council, or some member of the latter, will 
endeavor to bring him to a sense of his duty ; will 
labor with him ; will do all that their judgment sug- 
gests to continue him in the Church a reformed and 
saved man. 

No Church can wish to lose members, and no Church 
that has the spirit of the Master will fail to do every- 



50 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

thing to retain a member so long as there is any hope 
that he will discontinue such a course of life as is in- 
jurious to Christianity. 

Several such cases have occurred in our history, and 
very few cases have been such as to compel the Advi- 
sory Council and the Pastor to dissolve a member's 
connection with the Church for cause. As an illus- 
tration : A member of the Church took to drink. It 
was an old inherited proclivity of his, which he was 
supposed to have learned to conquer before he be- 
came a member of the Church. When it broke upon 
him afresh his brethren talked and prayed with him. 
He came before the Advisory Council and said to 
them : " Brethren, my case is this : If I take a glass of 
wine, my self-control is gone and I must go through 
my spree. I will endeavor to avoid the occasion 
hereafter. I am exceedingly sorry this has occurred ; 
I pray God it may not occur again, and I ask your 
prayers. Now, brethren, if the Church drop me I am 
afraid I am lost, although, even outside, I shall attend 
the Church, and fight the devil. Brethren, if you 
think the Church of the Strangers is going to be 
injured by my continuance in it, you must do your 
duty and drop me ; but if you can see your way clear, 
on my penitence, and confession and promise, to keep 
me, I shall be forever grateful for your brotherly kind- 
ness and forbearance." 

He was a cultivated man, a man in a large business 
down-town. Now, what was a Church to do in a case 
of that kind? We did not dismiss him. Similar cases 
have occurred with men who had little education and 



* A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 51 

no position, and we have pursued the same course. 
In several cases they were saved. The gentlemen 
alluded to above, and other men in similar cases, have 
died in the Church. So successful has this proved in 
doing good to souls and in saving the Church from 
quarrels, tumults, and disruptions, that we confidently 
commend it to the serious consideration of the 
Churches as a most valuable measure. 

In regard to the relation between m the Church and 
the member we hold this theory: Any member con- 
siders it his right at any moment to leave the Church 
with or without notice, and, even when notice is given, 
with or without assigning a reason. In a free country 
like ours perhaps this is true. The question arises 
whether, on the other hand, the Church has not the 
same right to retire from its connection with the mem- 
ber. Who shall say that it has not ? Has a member 
a right to demand a letter? We think not, any more 
than one gentleman has a right to demand a letter of 
introduction from one who has been his friend to that 
friend's friend. It is with the giver of the letter to 
say whether it shall be given or not. No man has a 
right to demand it. Where a member has been in 
good standing and announces his desire of becoming 
a member of another Church, it seems to be the duty 
of the Church which he leaves promptly to tender a 
kind and cordial letter of commendation to the Church 
which he wishes to join. We think that no pastor with 
a true sense of Christian propriety would for one mo- 
ment strive to keep in his Church any member who sig- 
nified the slightest desire of moving to another Church. 



5 2 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



Nor would he hesitate to do all in his power to make 
the transfer agreeable to the member leaving, to the 
Church he has left, and to the Church which is to 
acquire his membership. That seems to us to be the 
right relation of the parties. At any rate, on that we 
have acted, and have found it to work well. 



SUMMARY OF MEMBERSHIP. 



Date. 


Confes- 
sion. 


Letter. 


Total. 


Dismis- 
sions. 


Net 
Increase. 


Total at 

close 
of Year. 


1868 


13 


49 


62 


5 


57 


57 


1869 


19 


31 


50 


5 


45 


102 


1870 


18 


47 


65 


15 


50 


152 


1871 


37 


70 


107 


17 


90 


242 


1872 


63 


61 


124 


24 


100 


342 


1873 


35 


42 


77 


17 


60 


402 


1874 


54 


44 


98 


36 


62 


463 


1875 


16 


30 


46 


47 


Dec. 


462 


1876 


85 


48 


133 


88 


45 


507 


1877 


47 


32 


79 


43 


36 


544 


1878 


45 


3i 


76 


60 


16 


560 


1879 


5i 


35 


86 


58 


28 


588 


1880 


27 


21 


48 


no 


Dec. 62* 


526 


1881 


46 


38 


84 


46 


38 


564 


1882 


36 


25 


61 


48 


13 


577 


1883 


39 


5o 


89 


69 


22 


599 


1884 


42 


30 


72 


68 


4 


603 


1885 


34 


4i 


75 


73 


2 


605 


1886 


33 


30 


63 


52 


II 


616 



There have been received into the Church during 
the first nineteen years 1,497 persons — 740 on confes- 
sion of faith, and 757 by letter. There have been 



*The Pastor was absent six months in 1S80, and upon his return 
the books were revised, and all names erased except those of 
actual members. 



A ROMAXCE OF PROVIDEXCE - :3 

en from the roll by removals, deaths, etc, I8l. 
Total on the roll at the close of 1886. 616. 

The location of the building and the composition 
of the congregation are such as to render frequent re- 
movals on the part of members inevitable. Those : 
letter have come from Baptist, Church of England, 
Congregational, Dutch Reformed. Free Church of 
Scotland. Independent, Lutheran. Methodist-Episco- 
pal \crth ana 5:uth Presbyterian. ?r:testar.t-Epis- 
copal, Mennonite, and Wesleyan Churches. In their 
nationalities the members represent twenty-nine 
States of the Union, and Canada, New Brunswick, 
Nova 5:: ria. England. Scotland. Ireland, YV 
Francr Spain, Holland. Italy, German S eden, 
Switzerland. Denmark. Turkey, China, South Amer- 
ica. Cuba. Bermuda, and Prince Edward's Isle. 

: THE BOARD OF FINANCE. 

The Board of Finance is constituted as follows : At 
their Annual Meeting, the Board of Trustees elect one 
of their members to be Treasurer of the Church and 
another to be Financial Secretary of th e s 1 m e These 
fcwc jfficers and the President of the Board of Trus- 
tees together with two other members of that body 
electei at the same time, are the Board of Finance 
and Executive Committee of the Church, having 
charge of all the financial matters. The President of 
the Board of Trustees is also President ex officio of 
the Board of Finance. In other "words, the Board of 
Finance a Committee of Trustees appointed by the 



54 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Trustees and charged with the financial and executive 
functions of the Church. 

The Treasurer receives all the Sunday collections, 
all donations and special collections, and, at the end 
of each month from the Financial Secretary all the 
money received by the latter from subscribers during 
the month. He makes all payments on account of 
the Church upon the approval of the Board of Fi- 
nance, and makes monthly, quarterly, and annual re- 
ports of all receipts and disbursements. His annual 
report is printed and distributed among the members 
of the Church. 

The Financial Secretary keeps a record of the pro- 
ceedings of the Board of Finance ; also the accounts 
of the subscribers to the support of the Church. He 
receives all subscription moneys, and at the end of each 
month turns them over to the Treasurer. His quar- 
terly report is printed for distribution, and contains 
acknowledgments for all sums received. 

3. SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH. 

f 

To maintain the Church, the disbursements are for 

the Pastor, Sunday School, music, sexton, repairs, 
printing, cleaning, heating, lighting, insurance, and 
clerical help. 

The Church receives no income from pew rents. All 
the seats are free. If has no endowment. The income 
is derived from three sources: 1. Collections at Sun- 
day services ; 2. Donations ; 3. Subscriptions. Every 
member of the Church is pledged to make a weekly 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 55 

subscription of some stated amount ; but the whole 
amount for the month, the quarter, or the year may- 
be paid at one time, if preferred. Every regular 
attendant is expected to become a subscriber of a 
stated amount. 

The following is the form of subscription now 
(1887) in use, and may be obtained from the Finan- 
cial Secretary : 

FORM OF SUBSCRIPTION. 

The Church of the Strangers depends for financial support upon the volun- 
tary donations and the subscriptions of its friends and members. 

I promise to pay to the Treasurer of the CHURCH 
of the Strangers, the amount stated below until I 
otherwise direct ; also to notify promptly the Finan- 
cial Secretary of any change in my address. 

Name 

P. O. Address 

Weekly Subscriptions, % Cts. 

Date, 1st of 188 

When filled, return to , , New York. 

It is believed that there are none too poor to sub- 
scribe some amount. For system, it is desired that 
those who wish to contribute largely should conform 
to the same rules that govern smaller subscribers. If 
one wishes to give $50 a year, his subscription should 
read, "$1.00 a week": if $500 a year, " $10.00 a 
week." 

The subscription blanks are kept on file by the 






56 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Financial Secretary. Upon the receipt of a blank, 
he assigns a number to the subscriber, who is also fur- 
nished with a supply of small envelopes, to be used 
weekly. In all reports of money received the num- 
ber is used, and not the name of the subscriber. 

The Financial Secretary keeps a book containing a 
list of subscribers, with their numbers opposite each 
name. In another part of the book each number has 
a space allotted to it, with fifty-two ruled columns, 
representing the weeks of a year. 

Subscribers are requested, in making payments, to 
see that the amount covers a certain number of 
weeks, and not parts of weeks. These weekly sub- 
scriptions are dropped into boxes at the doors, 
marked, " For the Church." The Financial Secre- 
tary collects these envelopes, counts the money to 
see that the amount in each agrees with the memo- 
randum on the outside, and credits the subscriber for 
as many weeks as the money covers. None save the 
Board of Finance are ever permitted to inspect the 
accounts of subscribers. 

The Pastor himself is not to know whether any 
member of the Church is a subscriber or not. No 
member of the Church is to talk to him about his 
subscription. It is deemed best that he should not 
have anything to do with the financial support of the 
Church, so that he may give his whole life to its 
spiritual upbuilding. * Being questioned to-day (March 
II, 1887), he said: "No, I do not know whether a 
single member of the Board of Trustees, or of the 
Advisory Council, or whether the Superintendent of 






A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 57 

the Sunday School, or any teacher, is a subscriber to 
our sustentation fund. The only member whom 
I know to be a subscriber is my wife, and one or two 
others who incidentally have spoken to me of their 
subscription. I like this plan. When I am talking 
to a member of the Church, I do not know whether 
he gives one cent a year or ten dollars a week to 
carry forward the Church, so I am wholly unaffected 
in my intercourse with my people by considerations 
of that sort." 

It will be seen that in a Church of over six hundred 
members such a system as this will be very laborious, 
but we have found ordinarily the most competent 
men willing, for the sake of the Church, to perform 
the work. Very seldom has the congregation had 
appeals to bring up the finances. Several wealthy 
families have been lost to the Church, families willing 
to pay large amounts for separate pews, but not 
willing to run the risk of sitting side by side with 
everybody. We have not seen how it was possible 
that a Church of the " Strangers " could be managed 
in that way; and so we have submitted to these dis- 
abilities in order to carry out the design of the 
Church. 

We believe the members of our congregation are as 
well content with this plan as they could be with any 
other, and there are hundreds of worshipers who feel 
free and comfortable in our Church who, with all 
their intelligence and piety, could not be made com- 
fortable in a Church that had rented pews. As it is 
found that persons like particular places, our ushers 



58 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

are careful not to put others in those places ; and 
there are always seats just as good elsewhere in the 
Church. 

4. THE USHERS. 

Among our standing committees is one called the 
Committee of Hospitality, whose duty it is to meet 
strangers at the door and show them to seats, and 
otherwise make them comfortable. They are not to 
discriminate between strangers and regular attend- 
ants as against the former. They are carefully 
taught not to fall into the error- set forth by St. 
James : u My brethren, have not the faith of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of 
persons. For if there come unto your assembly a 
man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there 
come in also a poor man in vile raiment ; and ye have 
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say 
unto him, Sit thou here in a good place ; and say to 
the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my foot- 
stool : are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are 
become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my be- 
loved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this 
world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which 
he hath promised to them that love him? " 

As much attention is paid to him that comes with 
a patch on his clothes, as to him that comes with a 
diamond blazing on his bosom. This Church belongs 
as much to the strangers from other cities and from 
country places as it does to those who are communi- 
cants of our regular Church organization ; indeed, if 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 59 

there be any difference, the strangers have the very 
first claim. The intent is that they shall have a 
church in which — of whatever denomination they may 
be at their residences — they shall feel at home when 
they come to worship God with us. We believe that 
strangers appreciate this and remember it in the reg- 
ular offertory of the Church, and in occasional special 
donations, and in legacies. Dr. Deems tells the fol- 
lowing story : 

Once a gentleman came into my study, and said : 
" I have never spoken to you, Doctor, but I have 
been a very regular attendant on the Church services. 
This spring I had business in Texas, and this business 
carried me up to that border of the State which is near 
New Mexico. I did not feel that it was altogether safe 
traveling. One day I met three men who were armed 
cap-a-pie. They halted me, and questioned me uncom- 
fortably closely as to my incomings and outgoings. One 
of them eyed me sharply through the colloquy which 
I had with his comrade. At last he said, ' Stranger, 
I'm on the trail of ye. Ain't you from the Church 
of the Strangers ? ' I was much surprised at the 
question, and replied that when in New York my 
custom was to worship on Sunday mornings at the 
Church of the Strangers. ' Have you ever been 
there?' I asked. Said he, 'I'll tell you how it was. 
Me and Bill were drivin' our cattle, and sold 'em for 
a big chunk. Ses Bill to me, " Look here, Jim ; let's 
go on a lark to New York," and I agreed. We got 
thar Saturday, and saw in the papers notice of a good 
many meetin's on Sunday, and Bill saw thar was a 



60 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Church of the Strangers, and where it was, and ses 
to me, " Look here, Jim ; we don't often have a chance 
at home ; I reckon we oughter go to meetin', and 
here's the Church of the Strangers." So down we 
steered thar, and when we got to the door we were a 
little shy. We had lost our meetin' habits, and didn't 
know how to behave. A dapper little feller steps up 
to us, and ses, " Gentlemen, mayn't I show you 
seats?" We told him that was what we come for, 
and, sure 'nough, if we had been that chap's first 
cousin, he could not have been smilin'er nor kinder 
than he was. He just marched Bill and me up to 
the deacon's pew and right in front of old Commo- 
dore Vanderbilt's pew, and I tell ye we had to be- 
have ! How are them fellows anyway — the boys that 
meet strangers at the door? Give 'em my love. I 
just think they're prime.' His comrade joined in this 
eulogy of the ushers. I talked with them a great 
deal about you, and we got to be fast friends, and 
those men loaded me with every kindness until we 
parted. I did not know how to communicate this to 
your ushers, so I tell it to you." Of course the 
Pastor was delighted to tell this story, which he has 
frequently done since to the Committee on Hospi- 
tality. 

It is believed that this feature of church politeness 
was first begun in this city in the Church of the 
Strangers; it has become so common that now 
almost all the churches are given to hospitality. But 
history records the beginnings of things which are now 
so general as no longer to be regarded as singular. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 61 

5. OUR SYMBOL OF FAITH. 

As the Church of the Strangers is an independent 
Christian Church, it could not adopt any articles of re- 
ligion or Confession of Faith which distinctly marks 
any of the different sects in church or schools in the- 
ology. It was deemed advisable, therefore, to adopt 
the Apostles' Creed as a symbol commended by its 
antiquity, and by the fact that it is believed that it can 
be repeated from the heart by Christian people of all 
denominations. The form in which it is used in the 
Church of the Strangers has two modifications : 

(a) Where it is said of Christ, that " He descended 
into Hell," we repeat, " He went to the place of de- 
parted spirits," an alternative form also sometimes 
used in other churches. 

(b) In the conclusion of the Creed, after " I believe 
in the Holy Ghost," come the words, " Holy Catholic 
Church, the communion of Saints." Because unin- 
structed persons may confound ideas in the employ- 
ment of the words, " Holy Catholic Church," we use 
the phrase, " Holy Church of God, the communion of 
Saints," punctuating with a comma instead of a semi- 
colon after the word " God," so that that part of our 
Creed sets forth our belief that there is "a Holy 
Church of God," and that church is the " communion 
of Saints ; '' and that all who are striving to be good 
are in the " Holy Church of God." 

6. OUR RITUAL. 
The Ritual of the Church is very simple. At the 
Morning Service, when the Pastor enters the pulpit, 



62 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

he repeats some passage of Scripture, ordinarily this : 
"The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth 
keep silence before Him." The congregation then 
engage in silent prayer, after which a voluntary is sung 
by the choir. Then the Pastor reads the Epistle and 
the Gospel for the day, as appointed in the Book 
of Common Prayer, frequently commenting upon it. 
After these lessons a hymn is sung, at the conclusion 
of which the whole congregation unite in repeating the 
Apostles' Creed. After the Creed the Pastor makes a 
call to prayer and leads the whole congregation in 
their devotions, all joining in the -Lord's Prayer at 
the conclusion. After this prayer notices are given of 
Church work during the week ; then follows the sec- 
ond lesson, generally selected in reference to the sub- 
ject of the discourse ; a hymn is sung ; the sermon is 
delivered, which is followed by a prayer. After prayer, 
while the children of the " Half-Orphan Asylum " sing 
a hymn, the collection is taken up. Services are 
closed by the singing of the "Gloria" or long metre 
doxology beginning, " Praise God, from whom all 
blessings flow;" and finally the Apostolic benedic- 
tion, pronounced by the Pastor. 

At the Evening Service the Creed and the appointed 
lessons are omitted. The rest of the order is followed, 
the Pastor ordinarily selecting one lesson from the 
Old Testament, and one lesson from the New Testa- 
ment. 

The orphan children are not present in the evening. 
These children belong to the Half-Orphan Asylum on 
Tenth Street, near Sixth Avenue. About two hun- 






A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 63 

dred of them attend the Morning Service in the Church 
of the Strangers, and have their places in the gallery 
near the choir. Five generations of these children 
have passed through the Church during the last twenty 
years. Some of them have become communicants of 
the Church of the Strangers, some of other churches, 
and many of them have grown up to be excellent men 
and women, and have engaged in Christian work. One 
of the girls for two years has taken waifs from the city 
into a country place, to give them a little summer va- 
cation from the heat of the city. She is now married. 
The songs of these little children through all these 
years have been a great blessing. The Pastor says 
that he has frequently heard men very much hardened 
by worldly business, in distant parts of the country, 
who have spoken, sometimes with tears in their eyes, 
of the manner in which they were touched by the songs, 
sung by the little ones in the gallery. 

7. THE HOLY COMMUNION. 

The Holy Communion is administered in the Church 
on the first Sunday in every month. For the 
last twenty years very seldom has this blessed service 
been omitted, and never except when the church was 
undergoing repairs. On Communion Sunday the 
only change made in the service is the introduction 
of the Ten Commandments. 

Just before the Creed the Pastor repeats each Com- 
mandment, and the people respond, " Lord, have 
mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this Thy 
law." 



64 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

After the regular service the Holy Communion 
is administered. Around the font in front of the pul- 
pit a table is set to accommodate the Pastor and Ad- 
visory Council, making eight persons. 

The Ritual of the Communion is very much like 
that of the Protestant Episcopal and Methodist 
Episcopal Churches. Candidates who have been 
accepted by the Advisory Council are received into 
full membership. And a collection for the poor is 
always taken up. 

The communicants are in alternate pews, and, as 
they come from different denominations of Christians, 
they can take the Communion in any posture which 
they consider reverent and profitable. To some the 
pew in front serves as the railing of the chancel does 
in Episcopal Churches. Others sit, and others stand, 
at the moment of taking the bread and wine. There 
is no insistence upon the details of the Ritual. We 
believe that all things should be done " decently " 
and " in order," but that some verge and scope 
should be allowed to differences of opinion as to 
what really is the apostolic meaning of these words. 

8. BAPTISM. 

On the third Sunday in each month Baptism is ad- 
ministered to infants, and on the fourth Sunday to 
adults. The font is for children, and for those who 
prefer it to being baptized by immersion. Just under 
the pulpit is a baptistry for those who prefer immer- 
sion. The theory is that the mode is a matter which 
concerns the candidate, that he must do what will 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 65 

keep him in good conscience, and that the Pastor is 
simply to serve him for Christ's sake in the adminis- 
tration of Baptism, " In the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 

9. OTHER SERVICES. 

The Sunday School of the Church is held every 
Sunday morning at nine o'clock, in the chapel. The 
church on Mercer Street is a stone building: the 
chapel, which faces on Greene Street, is a two-story 
brick building, and the two structures are entirely 
separate. The lower story of the chapel is fitted up 
as a parlor. 

The Sunday School has a Bible Class for young 
men, a Bible Class for young women, a Visitor's 
Class; so that those who drop in may have something 
to do, and an Infant Class. 

At half-past 2 o'clock is the Chinese Sunday 
School in the chapel, ordinarily closing at 4 o'clock. 

At 6.45 a Vesper service is held in the church 
parlor, one of the rooms in the chapel. This is 
conducted by our young men, and is a service of 
prayer preparatory to the public service in the church. 

The regular Prayer Meeting of the Church is on 
Friday night, in the church parlor. 

A "Mothers' Meeting" is held every Wednesday 
following the first Sunday in the month, and on the 
second Wednesday thereafter, at 3 o'clock P.M. 

There is a Church Sociable every Wednesday even- 
ing following the first Sunday. 



VI. 

The Tribes. 

THE Holy Communion was administered to the 
Church of the Strangers on the first Sunday 
of January, 1868, at the formation of the 
Church. There has been but one Communion Sun- 
day on which there was no addition to the Church. 

A lady whose son was in the far West became so 
concerned about him that she called upon the Pastor 
and asked him to observe daily prayer for her distant 
boy at a certain hour, in which she would join in sup- 
plications in her closet. A few weeks after this daily 
united prayer had begun the son appeared in New 
York, and reported himself to his mother as having 
been strangely moved to leave California and return 
to the city. He accompanied his mother to our ser- 
vice, and the Word of God took such effect upon him 
that he became a converted man, joined the Church 
October 2, 1881, and has been walking uprightly in 
the faith ever since. Just before the October Com- 
munion, 1882, he was visiting the Pastor in company 
with another young man. He said : " Dear Pastor, 
next Sunday will be the anniversary of the beginning 
of my Church membership. I feel very grateful to 
God for having sustained me through the year and 
enabled me to resist temptation and to ' fight the good 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 67 

fight of faith.' I should like very much if those who 
joined with me at that time could meet on Monday 
night and assist me in returning thanks to God." The 
other young man was so struck with the proposition 
that he said, inasmuch as he had joined in January, 
he wished the Pastor would keep it in remembrance 
also, and so arrange that all those who had joined 
with him should meet on the succeeding Monday 
night to return thanks to God for His helping grace. 
Meditating upon this a few minutes, Dr. Deems re- 
plied that he did not see why he should not invite all 
who had joined in any October since the Church began, 
to assemble together in a sort of c/asszs, or band, for the 
purpose of returning thanks. Nor did he see why all 
those who had joined at any January Communion 
should not come together in a friendly devotional 
meeting. Immediately upon this, one of the three 
gentlemen, it is not now remembered which, suggested 
that, as that would bring two sections of the Church 
together, it might be extended so as to cover the 
whole Church and have twelve bands. The word 
twelve struck somebody's ear as a reminder of the 
Twelve Tribes of Israel, and so, with some leaning to 
facetiousness, that name was adopted for these sev- 
eral bands of believers. The idea was promptly car- 
ried into practical effect. 

These Tribes are voluntary combinations. No mem- 
ber is compelled to attend any of the Tribe meetings. 
Each Tribe elects a patriarch and a scribe, and these 
two persons have the general oversight of the mem- 
bership — notification of meetings, visitation of the 



68 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

sick, and such pastoral care, as laymen may take of 
one another. The scribe is not always a man. It has 
been found that in some of the Tribes there are ladies 
with time and skill for the work who are willing to as- 
sume it. 

This Tribal arrangement has been in many particu- 
lars exceedingly useful in providing more thorough 
spiritual oversight of the whole Church than any one 
Pastor could give. Each Tribe has an anniversary in 
the chapel, an annual meeting at the pastor's, and two 
or three other meetings, usually at private houses, 
no ''refreshments " beyond cold water being allowed. 
The Tribe manages its own affairs, and the meetings 
are more or less social, more or less religious, very 
much according to the temperament of the officers 
and the members. It affords the pastor additional 
opportunities of seeing his members and of becoming 
acquainted with them under social conditions. 

PASTORAL VISITING. 

From time immemorial this has been one of the 
perplexing questions in every Church in every large 
city. The members of the Church of the Strangers 
reside in different parts of New York City, Brooklyn, 
and Jersey City. There are some members within the 
limits of those cities that live twelve miles apart. At 
this writing there are more members of the Church 
living between 119th and 134th streets than belonged 
to it at the time of its organization. It is easily per- 
ceived how much time must be consumed in a regular 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 69 

visitation of all these persons. Moreover, in this 
Church, composed almost entirely of people engaged 
in business, it is nearly impracticable to maintain regu- 
lar pastoral visiting. If the Pastor go from house to 
house he will hardly ever see the men of the family 
until about six o'clock in the evening, when men or- 
dinarily return to their homes to dinner. In the 
Church of the Strangers many of the women are en- 
gaged in business as artists, clerks, literary helpers, 
and saleswomen in stores. The women who are at 
the heads of families are frequently absent from home 
or entertaining company. The result is that, as the 
Pastor makes his regular rounds, he misses a majority 
of his parishioners, and in a large proportion of other 
cases feels that his call was most inopportune. But 
there is no Pastor who does not long to know his people. 
He cannot endure to lose sight of them week after 
week, until their features fade out of his memory. 
Some he sees every week in the Church, in the Sunday 
School, at the Prayer Meetings, and at meetings of 
the Sisters of the Stranger. But when ail these are 
counted, they make a small minority of the entire 
Church membership. 

For a long time much prayerful study was given to 
the matter, and as a result the authorities devised a 
method of meeting the difficulty which, while not 
perfectly successful, has been helpful and at least 
removed all cause of complaint. 

There is given to every member on the first of the 
year a membership card, of which the following is a 
copy : 



7 o 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



No. on the Pastor's Record : 



1 



This card is to be returned to the Pastor, 
after the December communion and be- 
fore Christmas. Be prompt, so that he may- 
make his visiting plans for next year. 



foineu~ the Church of the Strangers. 



This Card becomes void on 31 si December, 188 



On the obverse of the card is the following : 

COMMUNION RECORD. 

[Please place opposite each month "yes," if you were at that 
month's communion. After your address has been taken this card 
will be returned to you, as it may be interesting in after years.] 

January 

February 

March 

April 



May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

Has your Pastor visited you this year ? 

Have you visited your Pastor this year ? 

When you return this card write your residence below 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 71 

This card explains itself. It is the duty of the 
member to preserve it and hand it in after the De- 
cember Communion, and before the First of January, 
with the blanks filled up. The address of each per- 
son, as given by himself, is then examined, and the 
Church-roll corrected thereby. On the First of Janu- 
ary we are supposed to know the residence of every 
communicant. Then a list is made out of those whom 
the Pastor has not visited during the year, and 
another list of those who have not visited the Pastor. 
He has up to this time endeavored each year to visit 
those upon whom he did not call the year before, so 
as to be able to make the circuit of the Church entire 
in, at the farthest, two years. 

But what is the object of pastoral visiting ? Is it 
simply to gratify parishioners? Is it simply to satisfy 
the whole body of parishioners that the Pastor is im- 
partial? These are motives which do not justify the 
outlay of time and strength. They are very small mo- 
tives, and the work is very great. It seems to us that 
the real objects of pastoral visiting are that the Pastor 
may know the spiritual condition of his congregation, 
so as to enable him to minister to them from the pul- 
pit more directly and more profitably, and also that 
he may edify them when he sees them in their houses. 
A pastoral visit is something different from a social 
or a business visit. It involves the cure of souls. In 
New York that can hardly be attained by the Pastor 
calling upon the members. 

In the Church of the Strangers this plan has been 
fallen upon ; once a week the Pastor gives a w 7 hole 



72 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

afternoon and evening to receiving people. And he 
announces the reception on the preceding Sunday 
from the pulpit. It is not the same day every week, 
for the reason that that would exclude some who have 
particular engagements on certain days or evenings ; 
and the intention is to afford everybody an opportu- 
nity to come. It is not a levee ; for the Pastor receives 
each one separately, if necessary, or each family 
where a whole family come together. There may be 
twenty or thirty assembled in the front parlor, and they 
may converse with one another, and thus form Church 
acquaintances. A few minutes is- given to each par- 
ishioner or to each group. Sometimes there are 
few at one of these pastoral receptions and so some 
interviews are long. Sometimes the Pastor offers 
more than twenty separate prayers in the after- 
noon and evening of a reception. The Pastor must 
judge as to the time, as a physician does at clinic 
or in office. It has almost always occurred that each 
one has had sufficient time for the interview. When 
the hour arrives for closing, if there are two or three 
in the front parlor, the Pastor ordinarily sees them all 
together, leads in devotional exercises, and appoints a 
time to meet each one. Frequently he announces 
from the pulpit that these hours are not set for the 
purpose of restricting his people to calling in those 
hours, but that they may be sure that he will make ar- 
rangements to meet them then, adding that, as the 
Pastor belongs to the Church, any member has a 
right to call upon him and send for him any hour of 
the day or night. Those who are sick and need the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 73 

Pastor are enjoined to let him know, and then he 
visits them as promptly as possible. The good of this 
plan is: that the parishioner leaves his home and 
avoids all interruptions that could possibly come to 
him, and he goes to see his Pastor when he knows 
that his Pastor has laid aside every other study and 
every other work to devote the time to him. 

This arrangement does not make it any easier 
whatever for the Pastor. It simply enables him to do 
very much more than could possibly be done in the 
ordinary loose and irregular way. It is to be remem- 
bered that the Church of the Strangers differs from 
other Churches in the city in this, that the Pastor 
holds himself bound to visit sick strangers or other 
strangers that call for his pastoral help. 



VII. 

The Sunday School. 

THE Sunday School of the Church of the 
Strangers was organized in May, 1867, in the 
small chapel of the University, while yet the 
place was known as The Strangers Sunday Home. 
There were only ten or twelve scholars at first, and 
Mr. R. C. Daniel was put in charge of them as Super- 
intendent. The next year the Church of the 
Strangers was organized, and the Sunday School was 
reorganized, Mr. Daniel resigning, October 11, 1868, 
and Mr. William H. C. Price being elected to fill the 
vacancy. 

Mr. Price, to the great regret of the entire school, 
tendered his resignation October 14, 1869, in conse- 
quence of his removal to Brooklyn ; and at the solicita- 
tion of the Pastor and teachers Mr. Robert H. Johnson 
accepted the Superintendency temporarily, filling the 
position until January 1, 1870, when Mr. Otto F. Von 
Rhein was elected. He resigned May 1, 1870, and Mr. 
Wm. J. Woodward was chosen, and filled the position 
until January 1, 1872, when Mr. R. L. Crawford was 
elected, and served until July following. He resigned, 
when Mr. W. J. Woodward was again elected to the 
position, and served until May, 1873, when Mr. W r m. 
H. C. Price was re-elected, and served until January, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 75 

1875. After this Mr. J. H. Schenck served for two 
months as Superintendent pro tern., and was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. B. A. Brooks, who served until July, 
1879, when Prof. George W. Pettit was elected. He 
resigned in September, 1886, and Mr. B. Van Henneck, 
who still retains the office (1887), succeeded. 

The School has always had faithful superintendence. 
Perhaps an unexampled record of punctual and de- 
voted service is that of Prof. Pettit, who, during his 
seven years of superintendency, though he lived about 
three miles from school, was never once absent or 
late! It may be added that he always found the 
Pastor present at the opening. 

The School commenced, as we have seen, with ten or 
twelve scholars. During the first three years the 
records were imperfectly kept. Below we present a 
table showing the attendance by years from 187 1 
to date. 

Although this record does not show a vast School, 
so many former members are scattered over the 
world that it will be of interest to them to have a 
record of the progress of the School, while those who 
are studying the movements of an independent Church, 
wish to know every particular, and therefore have a 
right to see the nakedness as well as the wealth of the 
land. 

Moreover, as we have already seen, the members 
of this Church are so widely scattered that many of 
their children are unable to attend their own School. 
It is believed that what is lacking in quantity is 
largely made up in quality. 



76 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



REGULAR ATTENDANCE BY YEARS FROM 187I TO 1887. 



Month. 



Jan. 1 



Year. 

1871 
1872 

1873 
1874 

1875 

1876 
1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 



Superintendents. 



Wm. J. Woodward.. 

j R. L. Crawford, ) 

}W. J. Woodward f 

W.J.Woodward, ( 

W. H. C. Price. } 

W. H. C. Price 

) J H . Schenck, ) 
I B. A. Brooks, j" ' 
B. A. Brooks 

\ B. A. Brooks, ") 
) G. W. Pettit. J • ' 
G. W. Pettit , 



Teachers 






and 


Scholars. 


Total. 


Officers. 






24 


126 


I50 


27 


177 


204 


31 


278 


209 


31 


243 


274 


32 


269 


30I 


23 


260 


283 


25 


189 


214 


33- 


261 


294 


33 


234 


267 


35 


203 


238 


36 


I93 


229 


36 


209 


245 


37 


156 


193 


37 


159 


196 


37 


172 


209 


36 


226 


262 



Owing to the great distances at which the families 
live from the Church, the School was never very large, 
but every scholar was known and had to be in regular 
attendance to keep his name upon the roll. The fig- 
ures given represent the number regularly present, 
and not the names upon the books. 

The sessions of the School begin promptly at 9 
A. M. with the singing of a hymn, after which the Pastor 
of the Church asks the scholars to repeat in concert 
the Golden Text and Central Truth for the day. The 
Apostles' Creed is then repeated, followed by prayer 
by the Pastor, the School joining him at the close in 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 77 

the Lord's Prayer. The Pastor next delivers a short ad- 
dress on some topic suggested by the lesson, or by an 
incident during the week. These sermonettes are very 
delightful and helpful to teacher and scholar. They 
are full of that zeal and hopefulness so characteristic 
of Dr. Deems, which kindle every heart with renewing 
energy. The Pastor is as punctually and regularly at 
the School as if he himself were Superintendent. 
Nothing but sickness or absence from the city is al- 
lowed to come between him and his Sunday School, 
and he has never been sick except one Sunday. 

Singing and reading of the lesson follow the ad- 
dress, after which the class recitations begin. At 
10:10 a bell is tapped, which notifies the teachers that 
within five minutes the lessons are to close. At 10:15 
the session closes with a hymn. This gives all time 
enough to be in Church at 10:30. 

Among the features of the School worthy of special 
mention are the following: 

1. Good Order. — The discipline of the day schools 
is stricter than here, but it does not result in better 
order. The commander-in-chief of these forces is 
Love, and the obedience rendered is cheerful, not me- 
chanical. The Superintendent never scolds, and rarely 
speaks to command. One tap of the bell is enough 
to secure perfect silence. We have seen Sunday 
Schools where the Superintendent was well nigh dis- 
tracted by vain efforts to keep order, and where it 
was no uncommon occurrence to see a refractory 
youngster publicly disciplined. 

In our School order is born of — 



78 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

2. The spirit of reverence, which is the only kind of 
order that keeps itself. It has been said that that is 
the best government which teaches its subjects to 
govern themselves. Any kind of authority is bad 
that fails to inspire respect. In this School there is a 
very marked spirit of reverence. The boisterous ele- 
ment is entirely subdued, and all is done and said in a 
manner befitting the house of God. By reverence 
we do not mean solemnity, lack of spirit, repression ; 
but a cheerful, healthy tone of spirituality. These two 
elements naturally result in — 

3. Careful Attention.— The Superintendent of the 
public schools in this city will not license any person 
as a teacher for more than six months in the begin- 
ning. This gives the individual a chance to get a trial 
in the schools. If at the end of six months the person 
proves himself a poor disciplinarian, his license will not 
be renewed, no matter how excellent a scholar he may 
be. Order must be had before instruction can begin. 

Conversely, where order is good instruction is easy ; 
the attention is readily secured and riveted. In this 
School everybody is busy, teachers and scholars alike 
intent upon the lesson. 

The average age of the pupils is far above the aver- 
age of Sunday Schools. Very few ever become " too 
old to go to Sunday School." There are classes for 
all ages. One class is for "Young Women," another 
for u Young Men," and a third for "Visitors." 

The officers of the School are the Superintendent, 
the Treasurer, the Secretary and Assistant, and the 
Librarian and Assistant. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 79 

There is a library of about five hundred volumes, 
which has recently been thoroughly overhauled and 
supplied with many new books and a new catalogue. 

At every Monthly Meeting of the Church the Su- 
perintendent reads a report setting forth the condition 
of the School. This meeting appoints a monthly 
"Visitor," whose duty it is to visit the School and re- 
port what might be termed an outside view of the 
same. Through these several channels constant com- 
munication is maintained between the School and 
the Church. At least two of the regular Prayer 
Meetings of the Church every year are devoted to 
" Prayer for children and the Sunday School." 



THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL. 

Up to and including the year 1884 the Church of 
the Strangers followed the general custom of dis- 
tributing gifts in the form of candies, fruits, toys, 
books, etc. A committee was appointed to provide 
the presents, and evergreens for decorative purposes. 

Another committee was appointed to provide prize 
gifts, which were distributed for regular and punctual 
attendance. All the teachers constituted a general 
committee to decorate the trees and the school-room. 
When, the time came for the meeting there was always 
a great crowd. Every child expected something. 
There was a brilliantly lighted, tastefully decorated 
room, containing trees loaded with gifts. The exer- 
cises consisted ordinarily of an address by the Pastor, 
singing and recitation by the scholars, one or two 



80 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 

presentation speeches, the grand distribution of pres- 
ents, and then the end. 

It was an occasion of general interest and rejoicing. 
The children were as happy as children ever are under 
similar circumstances. It inculcated in the infant mind 
a lively sense of the blessedness of receiving. It offered 
a never-failing promise of reward for every child at the 
close of the year ; and it never disappointed a single 
hope thus begotten. Probably (no proof exists, so far 
as we know) it kept up the attendance of the School. 
At any rate it always left upon the pupil's mind the 
impression that the essence of Christmas joy and of 
Christianity in general, consisted in receiving some- 
thing. It was a sort of kindergarten to develop the 
idea of passive church membership. The School was 
an efficient body of recipients. The School was 
the coach, the teachers were the draught horses, the 
Superintendent was the driver, and everybody else 
was having a ride ! 

Dr. Deems had frequently hinted in his addresses 
before the School that such festivals as these were un- 
christian. In 1885 the officers and teachers became 
convinced that their Pastor was right, and they de- 
termined to make a new departure. It was a bold 
step they now decided on ; but the success of the de- 
parture proved that the pastoral instruction men- 
tioned above had not fallen upon barren soil. The 
School was ripe for revolution. 

There was to be no longer a candy committee, no 
expensive decorations, no trees, no presents for the 
scholars. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 81 

The School provided a sufficient number of paper 
bags to be distributed to the scholars and the mem- 
bers of the Church and congregation on the Sunday 
preceding Christmas. These were to be filled with 
dry groceries, toys, books, anything suitable as a 
present to a poor child or family. The festival was 
held in the body of the church, and every man, 
woman, and child who attended it had a paper bag 
or other parcel, which was delivered to the proper 
officers detailed to receive such contributions. An 
immense stock of goods was the result. 

A large audience was waiting when the Superin- 
tendent rapped for order. There was a hymn, a prayer, 
followed by the Pastor's address. He called atten- 
tion to the difference between ''hugeness" and 
" greatness " as applied to a Sunday School. " As 
this can never be a huge School," he said, " it must 
endeavor to be a great one." He then asked all the 
children who had received presents at home to raise 
hands. Apparently every hand went up. But to be 
quite certain he demanded if a single child were in 
the audience that had had no present. No response. 
" Then," he continued., " we were not mistaken. Now, 
don't you see how selfish we were to take presents from 
the School when we had already been remembered by 
kind friends and affectionate parents?— especially since 
there are so many thousands of children in this city 
who have never had a Christmas present. If it is not a 
greater, it certainly is a more Christian pleasure to give 
to these out of our abundance, than to receive gifts 
ourselves. I am not going to ask you for a show of 



82 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

hands on this question, for there might be one among 
you weak enough to say you'd rather receive than 
give ; and that, you know, would spoil the effect of 
my speech! " 

After the Pastor's address followed more hymns, 
recitations by the scholars, and the usual distribution 
of prizes for punctual and regular attendance. 

The goods were distributed among needy families 
and schools. Many homes in this city were made 
glad. Packages were sent through Mr. Spicer, the 
agent of the American Sunday School Union, to the 
remote mountain districts of this State, and the Adi- 
rondack region. Appreciative letters have been re- 
ceived from grateful recipients and read before the 
School. In this way have the scholars personally ex- 
perienced the blessedness of giving. They have seen 
that self-denial, like " the quality of mercy," is iwice 
blest ! 

It is estimated that of those who have joined the 
Church of the Strangers, between 125 and 150 have 
come from its Sunday School. Many others have 
gone out from the School and joined other Churches. 

SUNDAY SCHOOL WORK FOR MISSIONS. 

During the first few months of the School's existence 
a scholar was admitted who was destined to be for 
many years the chief subject of interest. 

Charles K. Marshall, a native Chinese boy, was 
brought to America when twelve years of age. In 
1868 he came to New York and engaged in business, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 83 

at the same time becoming a member of this Church 
and its Sunday School. His desire to be useful grew 
upon him, and soon took the direction of a mission to 
his native land. He wanted to preach Jesus to his 
own countrymen. 

Through the efforts of Dr. Deems a passage was 
procured for him by the influence of Messrs. Garth, 
Fisher & Co., and he sailed for China, December, 1868, 
in the bark " Jennie," Capt. Cromwell. He put 
himself at once in communication with the mission- 
aries at Shanghai, where he labored for a season, 
rapidly reacquiring his native tongue and gaining the 
confidence of the older missionaries. He next went to 
Soo-Chou, where he preached and collected a Church. 
He married a native Chinese, a Christian woman, and 
sister of a native minister of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church. She soon became helpful in his work. 

To support these two missionaries a Missionary 
Society was organized in the School. Any person 
connected with the School became a member by the 
payment of ten cents a month, and others by the 
payment of twenty-five cents a month. 
: In May, 1871, the Society reported for one 
year: 

Receipts, $262. 1 3 

Remittances to " Charlie" Marshall, 261.45 



Balance on hand, $0.68 

The School some time after this procured a lot and 
chapel in Soo-Chou for Mr. Marshall, in which he 



84 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 

continued for a number of years to preach the 
Gospel. 

In 1878 the Society was reorganized and transferred 
to the Church. In another chapter its subsequent 
history is detailed more at length. 

But, though no longer the channel through which 
the missionary effort of the Church was directed, the 
School did not lose its zeal for missions. In 1881 it 
took up the education of a native boy in Bishop Go- 
bat's Protestant School on Mt. Zion, Jerusalem. 
Christos Tadros, now deceased, learned through the 
bounty of this school, to speak and write English with 
creditable accuracy, and gave much promise of future 
usefulness, when he was stricken down by a fatal 
disease. His brother, who is attending the "Syrian 
Protestant College" at Beyrut, Syria, has become the 
new beneficiary. Following is a copy of a part of a 
letter written to the School by Christos Tadros, under 
date of November 4, 1885 : 

"I had the pleasure of spending my holidays with 
my mother and brother, at Jaffa, where the beautiful 
sea is and where there are so many orange gardens. 
It is over three weeks since our School began again: 
a great number of new boys have been admitted. 
Here are some of their names. [The list is written in 
two columns, one Arabic, the other English, the latter 
including Daniel, Paul, Michael, Dcmitrins, Elias, 
Jolin, etc.] 

We have not got any rain and our cisterns are all 
empty. We shall be so glad to have fresh water to 
drink." 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 85 

The boy, at this writing, was less than thirteen 
years of age, and had attended an English school but 
four years; yet he wrote quite as well as many an 
older boy, born in an English-speaking land, that has 
attended school ever since he became of school age. 



VIII, 

The Chinese Sunday School. 

IN the year 1883 some members of the Church of 
the Strangers had answered a call to teach 
Chinamen in Rev. Dr. Marling's Church, at the 
corner of Second Avenue and Fourteenth Street. 
After several weeks of labor there this little band of 
teachers held a consultation on the propriety and 
feasibility of organizing a School in their own Church. 
The subject was broached to the Pastor, who favored 
the project, but advised the teachers not to withdraw 
their entire force from the Fourteenth Street School ; 
and to this day two young ladies of the Church of the 
Strangers teach in Dr. Marling's Church. 

By November, arrangements were completed and 
the opening of the Chinese Sunday School of the 
Church of the Strangers was announced. There were 
five teachers* and six scholars. Among the latter 
were Nam Ou Yong, the Chinese Consul's little boy, 
and Key, a younger brother of the same official. The 
Consul has since been removed to San Francisco as 
Consul-General at that port. While residing in this 
city, on several occasions he invited the teachers of 
the School to receptions at his residence, and seemed 

* As follows: Miss Annie Loomis, Miss Nettie Westley, and 
Messrs. R. T. Haines, E. E. Minner, and J. C. Westbrook. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 87 

to be deeply sensible of the kindness shown to his 
countrymen. 

The conduct of a Chinese Sunday School was soon 
found to be no easy task. It was agreed therefore to 
put an experienced worker at the head. Mr. Farney, 
a student at the Union Theological Seminary, then 
on University Place, was the first who accepted the 
charge. The Missionary Society agreed to contribute 
one hundred dollars toward the expenses. Mr. Farney 
was soon followed by Mr. E. P. Ingersoll, and he, in 
the spring of 1884, by Mr. S. L. Gulick, who labored 
with great success for nearly a year, bringing in new 
scholars, and in many ways increasing the usefulness 
of the school. 

In May, 1885, Mr. Gulick was called to a larger 
field of labor, and Mr. J. C. Westbrook, who had been 
acting as Secretary, succeeded. Since Mr. Westbrook 
came in charge the School has been not only self- 
supporting, but has contributed considerable sums 
for benevolent objects. He accepted the position 
with some reluctance, as he himself had been a recent 
convert, brought into the fold through the ministry 
of Dr. Deems. With characteristic modesty, he 
ascribes his success largely to his "faithful" teachers 
— earnest, prayerful, regular, sympathetic — and to the 
Pastor, whose "genial, hopeful, energetic spirit per- 
vades this as it does every other branch of work 
carried on by his Church." Once in three months 
the Pastor meets the teachers at his house. 

The majority of the teachers are women, the gentle- 
ness and patience of whose character seem to attract 



83 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

the Chinese and to gain their confidence. Nor is this 
to be wondered at when it is remembered how young 
men and boys, with a wicked and cruel insolence that 
deserves Sing Sing, often maltreat inoffending China- 
men on the streets. No wonder they are diffident 
and suspicious in the presence of men ! When the 
Mexican Indian was tied to the stake by the con- 
querors, a priest for the last time implored the 
haughty pagan to renounce his gods and become a 
Catholic. " Will the Spaniards go to that heaven of 
which you have so much to say?" inquired the 
sufferer; to which the priest assented. The Indian 
did not care to spend eternity with men so cruel. 
He refused to go to the Spanish heaven ! 

Well might the Chinaman of this country say, " If 
these be Christians, the Chinese gods are good enough 
for me ! " 

The average attendance of teachers and officers 
for 1886 was twenty-five ; of scholars, twenty-six. It 
will be seen that most of the teachers have but one 
scholar. This appears to be the most successful 
method, although in some cases small classes have 
been established. 

The exercises consist of singing, reading in con- 
cert, prayer in Chinese or English, catechism — half 
the School reading a question, the other half the 
answer thereto — arid reading or recitation by the 
scholars. 

The whole number of teachers thus far registered 
by the School is one hundred and sixteen, and most 
of these have come from the Church of the Strangers, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 89 

while some have come from all parts of the country. 
The number of different scholars taught by the 
School since the beginning is about three hundred. 

On the evening of Easter Sunday, 1886, a very un- 
usual and interesting service took place in the Church. 
One of the Chinese scholars named Look Quong was 
baptized. About fifty Chinamen were present and 
participated in the service by singing some of their 
favorite hymns — for Chinamen can sing, though they 
are reputed to have no sense of harmony or of per- 
spective. An address was delivered upon this occa- 
sion in the Mandarin dialect by Rev. Mr. Jones, a 
Chinese missionary, and also one in English by Dr. 
Deems. 

What took place the Sunday morning following is 
described in the words of The Mcnnonite, a paper 
published in Philadelphia, whose New York corre- 
spondent wrote as follows : 

" Last Sunday morning there was presented in the 
1 Church of the Strangers,' of which Rev. Dr. Deems 
is Pastor, an unusual spectacle. It was the com- 
munion season in that Church ; a season which oc- 
curs on the first Sunday in each month. Admission 
into the Church may be had by letters dismissory 
from any other Christian church, or by ' Confession of 
Faith/ by which phrase is meant verbal assent to the 
several propositions of the Apostles' Creed, so called, 
a formula of faith substantially agreed upon by all the 
evangelical churches. Upon the occasion aforesaid 
thirteen candidates presented themselves for admis- 
sion, some coming from the Congregational church, 



go A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

others from the Baptist, Methodist, etc. ; several 
came on confession, one of whom was a Chinaman. 
He stood in the midst of the company, a lady on 
each side of him, the Pastor of the Church and the 
spiritual officers before him, and an immense congre- 
gation standing behind him to second the welcome 
which preacher and officers extended to those who 
took shelter in the bosom of the Church. This Chi- 
nese gentleman is the first one of his race that ever 
joined the Church of the Strangers, although the 
Church has for several years had in its chapel a Chi- 
nese Sunday School with a membership of some fifty 
scholars. 

" This is a single illustration of what is going on 
among Christian churches in New York in behalf of 
the Chinese. Everywhere schools are springing up, 
generally taught by women, who seem in this instance 
to have more tact and wield greater influence than 
men.'* 

Look Quong has proved a consistent Christian, 
diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the 
Lord. It is matter for regret, perhaps, that so few 
have thus far openly confessed their faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. There are a number of difficul- 
ties in the way. In the first place, they are naturally 
diffident, and avoid publicity. To come before a 
large congregation of people belonging to a different 
race and speaking a different language is quite an 
ordeal for a Chinaman, as it would be for any other 
man. 

In the second place, the Chinese, like the Indians, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 91 

are very superstitious. By heredity, religion, and 
education these superstitious ideas have been 
wrought into their being. They are so prone, there- 
fore, to impute some special charm or saving power 
to formal acts of worship that it is not thought wise 
to urge them too strongly to make confession and 
receive baptism. 

On Easter, 1887, the second convert of the School 
was baptized in the Church, prior to his reception 
into membership at the following communion. To 
show the solicitude of the Pastor lest the subject 
might attach some superstitious efficacy to the mere 
rite of baptism, we quote the following elementary 
instruction taken down by the writer during the 
" preliminary examination " of the candidate : 

" A woman is such, not because she wears a gown, 
but she wears a gown because she is a woman. You 
are a Chinaman, not because you wear the queue, but 
you wear the queue to show that you are a loyal 
subject of the Emperor of China. Now, if I baptize 
you, that will not make you a Christian. I could 
baptize a dog or a cat. I could baptize the worst 
man in China, and he would still be as bad as ever. 
But you are a changed man. Whereas you have 
hitherto done nothing to get rid of your sins except 
what you could do for yourself, you have now deter- 
mined to let Jesus wash away your guilt; and be- 
cause you are a changed man and love Jesus, you are 
going to be baptized to show that you belong to 
Him. " 

During the last eighteen months some six or 



9 2 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

seven of the best scholars have returned to China to 
visit their parents and offer them some of their earn- 
ings. It is not true, however, as it has been asserted, 
that all their earnings are carried or sent back to 
China. They pay rent and taxes. In making pres- 
ents to their teachers they are generous to a fault. 
They contribute every Sunday a small amount which 
goes to defray the running expenses of the School, 
such as books, slates, etc. For nearly two years the 
School has contributed money for other missionary 
work. It has aided the Chinese Sunday School 
Union, the Gospel Mission, and the Inland China 
Mission. When the public meetings were held to 
memorialize Congress for the Chinese indemnity, this 
School came forward and helped to defray necessary 
expenses. They took great interest in the recent 
Bazar of the Sisters of the Stranger, and contributed 
with unstinted liberality. By common consent, the 
Chinese table was one of the finest in the house. 

As showing that the truths of Christianity taught 
in these schools are not lightly held or readily for- 
gotten, the following incident is noteworthy. One of 
the scholars, named Lee Chung, left for China about 
a year ago. Recently returning, he came back to 
School, and at the proper time arose in his seat and 
clearly repeated, without a halt, the words : " God so 
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
that whosoeve?' believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life." 

The resident missionaries of China bear testimony 
to the value of the Chinese schools in America. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 93 

Many of the scholars have, upon their return to their 
native land, been very useful to mission stations, 
inasmuch as, even if not Christians, they remember 
the kindness received from Christian people, and help 
to dispose the hearts of their countrymen for the re- 
ception of the truth as it is in Jesus. 

The following dispatch, recently printed by the 
press of New York, bears upon the same question, 
and confirms the above statements : 

" The authorities of China have issued proclama- 
tions calling on the people to live at peace with 
Christian missionaries and converts, and explaining 
that the Christian religion teaches men to do right, 
and should therefore be respected. The proclamation 
reminds them that by becoming converts to Chris- 
tianity they do not cease to be Chinese. ' Know, 
therefore/ says one of the proclamations, ' all men 
of whatsoever sort or condition, that the sole object 
of establishing chapels is to exhort men to do right ; 
those who embrace Christianity do not cease to be 
Chinese, and both sides, therefore, should continue 
to live in peace, and not let mutual jealousies be the 
cause of strife between them.' The change has been 
brought about without any outside pressure." 



IX. 

Prayer Meetings. 
THE REGULAR WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING. 

THE prayer meeting of the Church of the Strangers 
is probably one of its strongest features. 
From a well-known work by a distinguished 
clergyman, we copy the following passage : 

"I suppose there is hardly any other part of Church 
service that is regarded with so little estimation in the 
community at large as the prayer meeting. And I 
think facts will bear me out in saying that this feeling 
is participated in by the Church on the part of the 
greatest number of its members, nine out of ten of 
whom look upon it as perhaps a duty, but almost never 
a pleasure. It is a ' means of grace ' ; and they feel 
about it as I did when I was a boy about being washed 
in the morning and having my hair combed. It was 
better than going indecent ; but it was an exercise 
that I never enjoyed, and I was heartily glad when it 
was over. In most Churches I think that is the feel- 
ing in regard to the* prayer meeting; that it is dull; 
that it is for the most part without edification ; that 
in some mysterious way it may be blessed to the soul's 
good, — but how, they do not know." 

We are glad to believe that, if this be the feeling in 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 95 

" most Churches," the Church of the Strangers has 
the grace to belong to the minority. 

The prayer meeting ought to be regarded as the 
very centre and heart of Church life. The preaching 
service is very important, indeed ; but in Protestant 
Churches the sermon is the principal part of it. Al- 
most everything is done by one man. The preacher 
reads a lesson, and the congregation hear it ; he gives 
out a hymn, and the choir sing it; he delivers the ser- 
mon, and the people listen to it. But what have the 
congregation done ? They have contributed their 
presence. They come to get something, to get a 
blessing, to get a sermon. This is all very well in its 
way ; but if it is the whole of a Church's experience, 
its members must necessarily be very imperfect 
Christians. A preacher in such a Church fills an office 
somewhat similar to that of a coachman or a valet ; 
he is hired to perform other people's devotions. The 
service of a Christian is one that cannot be done by 
proxy : God and the soul must come in contact, or 
they must remain strangers. 

Now, the prayer meeting is a place where people 
go to perform their own devotions. Here, each one, 
however feeble, may contribute something. He is 
not necessarily a mere passive recipient ; he may ex- 
perience the greater blessedness of giving. 

In Churches where the prayer meeting is a failure, 
there is nothing left but the pulpit ; and if the pulpit 
fails, the whole collapses. 

The prayer meeting is the place for Christian fellow- 
ship, which, especially in New York, is so rare. We 



96 A ROMAlrcE OF PROVIDENCE. 

all " believe " in fellowship, because we have so little 
opportunity of knowing it. One woman is known by 
the writer to have sat for ten years in a pew behind 
another woman, and in all that time they never ex- 
changed a word. At last the minister preached a 
stirring sermon on Christian fellowship, and at the 
conclusion of the service the women arose, looked 
each other in the face, and began to cry. They saw 
the sin of such conduct and the mockery of such 
Christianity! 

The prayer meeting develops the pew-power of the 
Church. It cultivates a devotional spirit, which is 
infinitely more important even than mere mechanical 
activity. We often contrast " mystical " with " prac- 
tical " Christianity to the detriment of the former. 
The truth is that a union of the two is as necessary to 
real Christianity as body and soul are to a human 
being. A mere mystic is like a disembodied spirit ; 
an undevout Christian is like a body without a spirit 
— a mere machine. The men of power are the men 
who, amid all the perplexities and details of a busy 
life in the midst of humanity, do not lose their spiritual 
zeal. The danger of philanthropists in this direction 
is well known, and is finely illustrated in Hawthorne's 
character of Hollingsworth. Every working Church 
is in the same peril, unless it keep up its connections 
with that unseen Power which is the Corliss engine 
of all the machinery in the universe. The prayer 
meeting is the Church's Mount of Transfiguration, 
where Jesus comes to " touch " His disciples ; where 
the inner strength is renewed by communion with 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 97 

God ; where everybody ought to cry out with Peter : 
"Lord, it is good for us to be here ! " 

When this element of devoutness is lacking, all 
Church work is useless to the workers, and the organi- 
zation will sooner or later go to pieces. 

That the Prayer Meetings of the Church of the 
Strangers have been a source of comfort and delight 
to its members — and particularly to its Pastor — we 
personally know. 

Every six months a committee is appointed whose 
duty is to take charge of these meetings. Ordinarily 
new members are appointed, who are thus early kept 
close to the source of inspiration. One or two old 
and experienced members are put at the head. The 
committee select topics and print them on a card, 
which also contains an account of the other services 
of the Church. 

This method has worked well in the Church of the 
Strangers. There are Prayer Meetings just as good, 
where the method is entirely different. The object 
to be attained is everything; the means by which it 
is accomplished may be safely left to local preferences. 
With a good leader any method is profitable. With 
a poor leader the best method may be fruitless. In 
some excellent Prayer Meetings, no one ever knows 
beforehand what topic is going to be up. Whatever 
is uppermost in the minds of the people at the mo- 
ment, is allowed to have full scope and consideration. 
The skill of leadership consists in training people 
into real usefulness without their knowledge. We 
give a copy of the current card used in this Church : 



98 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



THE 



CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS 

Mercer, near Eighth St. 



OPEN SUMMER AND WINTER ; SEATS ALWAYS FEES. 



CHARLES F. DEEMS, D.D., LL.D., Pastor. 



The Church. 

PUBLIC WORSHIP.— Sundays, 10.30 A.M., 7.30 

P.M. 
COMMUNION.— First Sunday in each month, after 

morning sermon. 
BAPTISM OP INPANTS.-Third Sunday, before 

morning sermon. 
BAPTISM OF ADULTS.-Last Sunday, before 

morning sermon. 
CHOIR PRACTICE.— Tuesdays and Saturdays at 

8 P.M. Prof. G. W. Pettit, Leader. 



The Chapel. 



PRAYER MEETING.— Every Friday evening at 

7.45. 
MOTHERS' MEETING.— Wednesday following 

each Communion, 3 P.M., and second Wednesday 

thereafter. 
CHURCH SOCIABLE.-Wednesday following 

second Sunday, 8 P.M. 

YOUNG PEOPLE'S PRAYER MEETING.- 

Sunday evenings at 6.45. 

SISTERS OF THE STRANGER.— 3 to 5 every 

afternoon, except Sundays. 
SUNDAY SCHOOL.— Sunday mornings at 9. 
CHINESE SUNDAY SCHOOL. -2.30 P.M. 
MONTHLY MEETING.— Wednesday, before 

Communion, 8 P.M. 
EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES.-Mon- 

day preceding Communion, 7.30 P.M. 



IE-very service begins j>recisely at the 
Jtotir named. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



99 



Our Prayer Meeting, 



SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE WHO ATTEND. 



1. i COME TO THE MEETING WITH A PRAYERFUL 
SPIRIT. 

2. BRING YOUR FRIENDS WITH YOU. 

3. READ THE TEXTS NOTED FOR THE EVENING AND 
MAKE THEM A SUBJECT OF THOUGHT. 

4. TAKE PART PROMPTLY, BRIEFLY, AND EAR- 
NESTLY. 

5. THE LEADER IS REQUESTED TO END THE OPEN- 
ING EXERCISES AT 8.15, OR EARLIER. 



January to July, 1887. 



January 7. 

Consecration. 2 Cor. vi. 17 ; Joshua, xxiv. 15. 

January 14. 
Self-Righteousness. Romans, iii. 10. 

January 21. 
Prayer for Children and the Sunday School. 

January 28. 
The "Uncertainty of Life. 1 Peter, i. 24. 

February 4. 
Preparation for Communion. Led by the Pastor. 

February 11. 
Prayer for Missions. 

February 18. 
Saving Faith. Galatians, iii. 11. 

February 25. 
What am I doing to save souls ? John, i. 35-46. 

March 4. 
Preparation for Communion. Led by the Pastor. 

March 11. 
Decision. Deut. xxx. 11-20. 

March 18. 
Promise Meeting. {Let each one read a promise.) 



100 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



March 25 




Duty in the Closet. 


Matthew, vi. 5-13. 


April 1. 




Preparation for Communion. 


Led hy the Pastor. 


April 8. 




Bearing the Cross. John, 


xix. 17 ; Matt. xvi. 24. 


April 15. 




The Perpetual Presence. 


Matt, xxviii. 20. 


April 22. 




Stewardship. 


Luke, xix. 13. 


April 29. 




Preparation for Communion. 


Led by the Pastor. 


May 6. 




Christ manifested to us. 


John, xiv. 22, 33. 


May 13. 




Prayer for Missions. 




May 20. 




Come Boldly. 


Heb. iv. 16. 


May 27. 




Children of the Day. 


1 Thess. v. 5, 6. 


June 3. 




Preparation for Communion. 


Led by the Pastor. 


June 10. 




A Safe Condition. 


John, x. 14-17, 27-29. 


June 17. 




Experience Meeting. 




Select a promise fulfilled in your expe?"ience, with brief 


remarks. 




June 24. 




Opportunity. 


Matt. ix. 37, 38. 


PRAYEB MEETING COMMITTEE. 


Wm. S Witham, J. S. Kennedy, A. B. Hohmann, 


Geo. G. Hooper, Eugene Shttart, and Charles 


Young. 





A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



101 



Seven Reasons Why i Should Reg- 
ularly attend the Prayer Meeting. 



1. It will honor God. — "Pay thy vows 
unto the Most High ; call upon me * * 
and thou shalt glorify me. " Ps. i. 14, 15. 

2. It icill bless my family. — " His righteous- 
ness unto children's children; to such as keep 
liis covenant." Ps. ciii. IT, 18. 

3. It icill strengthen my spiritual life. — 
" They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
their strength." Isa. xl. 31. 

4. It icill increase my faith. — " Faith cometh 
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." 
Rom. ^. 7. 

5. It will encourage my Pastor and my 
brethren. — " Many shall see it, and fear, and 
trust in the Lord." See Ps. xl. 1-3. 

6. It will discourage sinners. — "And the 
Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is 
come into the camp." See 1 Sam. iv. 6, 7. 

7. It will add moral power to the Prayer 
Meeting — " When they had prayed, the place 
was shaken where they were assembled to- 
gether, and they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with 
boldness." Acts, iv. 31. 

" Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves 
together." Heb. x. 25. 



102 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

This committee are obliged to be. present to see 
that the church parlor is in good order, and supplied 
with Bibles and hymn books ; that arrangements are 
made for hospitably receiving and comfortably seat- 
ing strangers ; and for the conduct of the meeting. 
One of the committee is always, at fifteen minutes to 
eight, to take his seat at the table and attend to the 
exercises and conduct them, unless the committee 
shall have secured some other person as leader for 
the night. 

The Pastor is in almost constant attendance, sits 
where he will, and takes what part he may choose 
in the meeting. He is, however, appointed by the 
committee, always to lead the Prayer Meeting on the 
Friday night immediately preceding the Holy Com- 
munion, which is administered on the first Sunday in 
each month. 



THE NOON-DAY PRAYER MEETING. 

The Fulton Street Prayer Meeting is old and well 
known and efficient ; but it is far down town, and 
business is moving up. In February, 1887, a number 
of business men in the vicinity of Astor Place con- 
sulted together, and agreed to organize an up-town 
meeting for at least the Lenten season, which was 
about to begin. They wanted it unsectarian, and as 
the Church of the Strangers is independent and un- 
denominational, they deemed it suited to their pur- 
pose. Accordingly they applied to the trustees for 
the use of the church. This was granted, and the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 103 

result is a flourishing meeting permanently located in 
the parlor of the church. Thus is fulfilled the long 
cherished desire of Dr. Deems, that services might 
be held in his church every day of the year. 

During Lent these meetings were in charge of the 
following clergymen, each of whom led for one week 
only : Rev. Dr. Wilson, Assistant Rector of St. 
George's; Rev. Dr. Alexander, of the University Place 
Presbyterian Church ; Rev. Dr. Deems, of the Church 
of the Strangers ; Rev. Bidwell Lane, of the Central 
Methodist Church ; Rev. A. W. Halsey, of the 
Spring Street Presbyterian Church ; and Rev. Dr. 
Judson, of the Berean Baptist Church. 

After Easter the laymen took charge ; and the 
meeting is now of laymen, for laymen, and by lay- 
men. The attendance has been uniformly good from 
the start, and the general testimony of those who 
have attended is that these seasons of prayer have 
been delightful occasions. Nor is the attendance re- 
stricted to men. It was at first proposed to have a 
" business men's prayer meeting ; " but it was recol- 
lected that many women engaged in the drygoods and 
other stores of the neighborhood, and many who did 
their shopping in the neighborhood, needed such a 
meeting as much as the merchants and their male 
clerks. Hence it was decided to advertise a " noon- 
day prayer meeting," and throw it open to all who 
chose to avail themselves of its benefits. There have 
always been a number of ladies present, and some 
large employers have agreed to make special arrange- 
ments to allow their female clerks to take turns in 



104 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

attending the meetings. Plainly, the Prayer Meeting 
supplies a real need. To get away from the anxiety 
and turmoil of business, even for a moment, and lose 
one's self in the contemplation of infinite strength 
and goodness is a luxury, a restorative to the spiritu- 
ally minded, that eases every pain and lightens every 
burden. 

The expenses have been defrayed by the laymen 
who originated the meetings. There has been no 
fuss made, no loud appeal for support. Everything 
has gone on in a quiet way. The bills have all been 
paid by those who voluntarily contributed. 

The following names of laymen were appended to 
the original call : Robert R. Doherty, assistant ed- 
itor Christian Advocate ; B. J. Fernie, editor of the 
Christian Herald ; David A. Burr, lawyer ; O. M. 
Dunham, manager Cassell & Co. ; W. T. Pratt, 
manager A. H. Andrews & Co. ; Gavin Houston, 
manager Thomas Nelson & Sons ; George G. Saxe, 
Saxe and Robertson ; Frank H. Dodd, Dodd, Mead 
& Co.; L. P. Tibballs, toys; W. W. vVyman, of 
Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. ; John D. Cutter ; William 
Baldwin, of Methodist Book Concern ; E. B. Treat, 
publisher ; W. S. Holbrook, with Charles Scribner's 
Sons ; William B. Holmes, photographic materials ; 
J. A. Richards, with Funk & Wagnalls; G. H. Clay- 
ton, with Bangs & Co. 



! 



The "Mothers' Meeting." 

[This edifying sketch is from the pen of the Secretary of the 
Mothers' Meeting. J. S. T.] 

IN the fall of 1880, it was suggested by Dr. Deems, 
that such lady-members of the Church of the 
Strangers as were mothers should meet once a 
month — as many as could do so — for an hour's prayer 
and Christian conversation, in order that they might 
thereby be spiritually strengthened and better fitted 
to fill the sacred office of motherhood, unto which 
they had been divinely appointed. The proposition 
was so favorably received that a meeting was held in 
the church parlor at 3 o'clock, the Wednesday after- 
noon following the October Communion, a very en- 
couraging number of mothers being present. During 
that winter the average attendance was about eighteen, 
and the hour thus spent was of great interest and 
profit to the participants. 

As most of the mothers were to be out of the city 
through the summer months, it became necessary to 
close the meetings in June. When they were resumed 
in October, it seemed difficult to reawaken the old 
interest. A few mothers came regularly; others but 
seldom, and only in fair weather. At length the 
Pastor offered to meet with us. This experiment 



106 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

failed to produce any marked increase of attendance, 
but his companionship, his sympathetic appreciation 
of our needs and desires, his sincere words of comfort 
and kindly advice, his earnest petitions in our behalf at 
the Throne of Heavenly Grace, made the hour one of 
two-fold delight. We who were present each month 
felt very sorry for the absent mothers who were miss- 
ing these precious seasons. 

The June separation again closed the meeting, and 
when we reassembled in October, 1883, we elected a 
president and secretary, who were authorized to do 
whatever in their judgment should promote the good 
of the cause. A visitor was then appointed to call 
upon the mothers who had only been present during 
the first year. Some said it was impossible for them 
to come, others promised to return, but for some 
reason failed to do so. Even the notices from the 
pulpit seemed to fall to the ground unheeded, and 
in June, 1884, we closed with the same number of 
mothers we began with the previous fall, — just seven. 
Our efforts to make the meeting popular had met with 
so many discouragements that we then almost resolved 
to abandon any further attempt to keep it going, feel- 
ing that God's time for such an enterprise in our 
Church had not yet come. Accordingly, when Oc- 
tober came again, there was no meeting, only a 
longing, instead, in the hearts of the few, for some- 
thing that was more precious to them than they had 
before realized. Another meeting date passed, and 
the longing became an actual pain. Then our presi- 
dent said: "Let us make one more trial and let the 






A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 107 

matter become a subject of earnest prayer with us all. 
If ten mothers come, we will regard it as a desire on 
God's part that we should continue the meetings. If 
a less number be present, we will consider that it is 
our duty to adjourn finally." 

The meeting was appointed for November 28. 
Trustfully and hopefully, we came together that after- 
noon, and to our intense joy there were ten of us — 
just ten. It seemed such a direct answer to prayer, 
such a practical proof of the Saviour's interest in these 
meetings, that we really felt His presence in our 
midst. We re-elected our president and secretary 
that day, and each one of us promised that, if Provi- 
dence permitted, we would attend faithfully all winter. 
Our Pastor then decided that in the future he would 
be present only at the opening or the close of the 
meeting, in order that it might be strictly a Mothers' 
Meeting, in which the ladies might feel more free to 
speak. We gave him up most reluctantly, and only 
because of his arduous labors in other departments. 
It was also resolved that a mother should be appointed 
at each meeting to take charge of the next. The 
leader for January, 1885, suggested that she should 
select her texts and send them to the secretary to be 
distributed to the other mothers, a few days previous 
to the meeting, in order that they might study the 
subject before coming together. This new departure 
was universally conceded, after experiment, to be both 
pleasant and profitable, and was therefore permanently 
adopted. The meetings were continued without 
further change in form, and with an attendance of 



108 A ROMANCE OF FROVIDENCE. 

seldom more than ten mothers, and frequently a 
smaller number, until October, 1885. It was then 
agreed that we should assemble twice a month — the 
first and third Wednesdays following Communion — 
and see if by that means we could increase the interest 
in the meeting. We likewise adopted the plan of 
making all mothers and children, whose birthday anni- 
versaries came between meetings, subjects of special 
prayer during that time. The secretary also sent to 
all mothers whose addresses could conveniently be 
obtained, an invitation to come at least once to the 
meeting. When June, 1886, came we had forty names 
enrolled on our list of mothers, many of them such 
interested members that when obliged to be absent 
they sent in regrets. We then agreed that the meet- 
ings should not close for the summer, as heretofore, 
but should continue for the benefit of the few mothers 
who would be out of the city only transiently. Many 
of those who expected to be gone all summer requested 
that the texts and a list of the birthday anniversaries 
might be sent to them while they were away. 

When October came again, no extra efforts had to 
be made to arouse interest. It had not subsided, ex- 
cept in a few cases. Through the winter six new 
names were added to the list, and we trust many 
others will follow. 

During the past eighteen months, we have received 
several letters from the grown-up sons of some of our 
members, assuring us that it has been very sweet and 
helpful to them, in their labors in distant parts of the 
country, to know that this band of Christian mothers 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 109 

in the Church of the Strangers are praying for them. 
A mother from another city visited one of our meet- 
ings and became so interested in them, that she went 
home and started one in her own Church. 

Thus, after long and patient sowing, we find good 
seed springing up here and there. So, thanking God 
for even these few visible fruits ; for the ineffable 
comfort and happiness we have ourselves experienced 
in these sweet communings with our Saviour and each 
other ; and for the numerous blessings bestowed upon 
us and our children, we take fresh courage and, with 
Divine assistance, mean to press on with renewed 
earnestness in our efforts to become more worthy of 
the sacred office entrusted to us. We shall, as far as 
in our power lies, endeavor to help all other mothers 
realize the awful import of those solemn words : 
" Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give 
thee thy wages." 

Let all who read this humble little history of the 
hard and patient struggles of the Mothers' Meeting 
unite their prayers with ours that it may grow in 
spiritual strength until its power and glow shall be 
felt through the Church on earth and in heaven. 



XI. 

The Sisters of the Stranger. 

VERY early in the history of the Church of the 
Strangers it became evident that this was to 
be a wide field for benevolent operations. Its 
title was unique. No other Church made special pro- 
visions for strangers. Among the various charities 
none could be found which gave strangers the prefer- 
ence. Many coming to New York not of the emi- 
grant class, but yet needing assistance, hearing of 
Rev. Dr. Deems and his new enterprise, naturally 
went to him for aid. The demands upon him in- 
creased, and already time, strength, and purse were 
taxed to their utmost limit, while the drafts upon his 
lively sympathies were enormous. The Church was 
young and struggling. Composed mostly of those 
in narrow circumstances, its charity offertory was 
necessarily small. Some means had to be found 
whereby the Pastor might be relieved and the 
benevolent work carried on. Dr. Deems took coun- 
sel with a lady, a member of his Church, and pro- 
posed to her his plan, crudely formed, which he 
hoped might be developed effectively with proper 
energy. She " had a mind to work," but hesitated 
about undertaking duties where the responsibilities 
seemed so great. Dr. Deems promised to co-operate 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. m 

and give what time he could in furthering the work. 
After prayerful consideration, Miss Cecile Sturtevant 
consented to make the experiment. She entered 
upon the labors on January 18, 1869. The title 
"Sisters of the Stranger" was adopted for the work. 
Meantime Dr. Deems had found a generous-hearted 
woman, not a member of his Church, but interested 
in his movements, who recognized the importance of 
his plans for greater usefulness. This lady, Mrs. H. 
B. Cronly, kindly pledged herself to support the 
enterprise for the first ten weeks. Encouraged by 
this ready sympathy, Miss Sturtevant set resolutely to 
work in every direction, receiving applicants at her 
own home, investigating cases brought to her notice, 
soliciting funds, attending to the correspondence, and 
interesting charitable people, both men and women, 
in the cause. Among the earliest to enter heartily 
into the project was Miss Cordelia Gillespie, now 
Mrs. E. F. Bermingham, a warm friend of Dr. 
Deems, and a member of his Church. Ladies from 
other Churches were attracted, and gentlemen in 
business circles began to be interested. Confidence 
was felt in the wisdom of an undertaking in which 
Dr. Deems was a leader, and which supplied a long- 
felt want. The efforts made were seen to be judi- 
cious. Friends arose. Eight ladies became sub- 
scribers at one dollar a month. Another lady con- 
tributed fifty dollars. 

As the interest increased the work grew. Applica- 
tions for assistance became more numerous. Within 
three months it was found necessary to secure an 



ii2 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

office for the transaction of business. A suitable 
room was found in the Bible House at a reasonable 
rent. As yet there had been no attempt at organiza- 
tion, it being thought better to proceed carefully and 
see what Providence might indicate. 

At length it appeared desirable that the ladies 
should organize for more effective work, and a meet- 
ing of the members and friends of the cause was held 
on the eighteenth of May, 1869, just four months 
after the initial step had been taken. The American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions kindly 
offered the use of their rooms for the meeting, the 
office of the " Sisters " being too small for the pur- 
pose. By request, the Rev. Dr. Deems presided, and 
Miss Cecile Sturtevant acted as secretary pro tern. 

The financial exhibit showed that in four months 
$140.72 had been disbursed in relief, and that thirty- 
three strangers had received help. Of these six were 
from England, five from Ireland, four from Germany, 
four from New York State, four from Rhode Island, 
three from Virginia, two from Massachusetts, two 
from South Carolina, and one from Georgia. The 
report also showed that in several cases clothing had 
been provided and medical and legal advice secured 
without charge. One hundred and thirty visits had 
been made by Miss Sturtevant in the interest of the 
Society. This report was encouraging. A Board of 
Officers was elected for the current year. Dr. 
Deems was appointed Auditor of the Society. Miss 
C. Sturtevant was elected Secretary and Treasurer. 
It was determined that the object of the Society 



1 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 113 

should be to assist strangers in this city ; affording 
temporary relief, so far as practicable, by giving food, 
clothing, shelter, medical attendance, legal advice, 
and such general information as might be needed on 
the subjects of obtaining employment, boarding- 
houses, and Churches. All the ministrations of the 
Society were to be given regardless of the nationality, 
creed, age, sex, or color of the applicant 

In the following year it was thought better to re- 
move the office to the Chapel, 4 Winthrop Place. 
The Trustees of the Church fixed the rental at $200 
a year. This was paid by the Sisters for five years 
and a quarter. At that time it became necessary for 
the Church to use this room for the Sunday School. 
Then the Pastor, with the concurrence of the Church 
officers, kindly granted the use of the church parlor 
for the work of the Sisters free of rent, which favor 
has been continued to the present. 

The opening of the year 1871 found the Sisters 
"faint, yet pursuing." The way was often hard, the 
means small ; frequently cases of pressing need were 
presented to them when the exchequer was too low 
to afford the necessary relief; but the money always 
came at last, miraculously it seemed sometimes. 
The Secretary well remembers how her discourage- 
ment was rebuked on one occasion when the treasury 
was empty and she saw no prospect of money com- 
ing. It was time to go home, and she was about to 
leave the office with a heavy heart, when a gentleman 
entered and told her that he had been attracted by 
the title of the Society, and wished to make a dona- 



ii4 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

tion to a cause so excellent. He handed her twenty 
dollars, and promised further aid in the future. The 
Secretary went home with a glad heart, but repent- 
ing of her want of faith. This gentleman, Mr. J. H. 
Keyser, afterwards maintained a lodging house for 
men and women called the " Strangers' Rest," where 
the Sisters had the privilege of sending applicants 
without charge, the only conditions being sobriety of 
the applicant, and a thorough bath in a room com- 
fortably fitted up for this purpose. Strange to say, 
not a few of the men preferred to lodge in a station 
house or stay in the street, rather than submit to the 
cleansing process ! Needless to add, that when one 
of this class presented himself a second time for help, 
it was not granted. 

Mr. Keyser also allowed the Sisters to send their 
sick pensioners to his " Hospital for Strangers," 
where they received the kindest care. These institu- 
tions no longer exist, but for a long time they were 
of great use to the Society. 

About this time Dr. Francis Moore became inter- 
ested in the work of the Sisters, and gave his pro- 
fessional services gratuitously, doing all he could 
to advance the interest of the Association. On 
one occasion, having a poor family from the South 
in his charge, whose children were down with scar- 
let fever, he sat more than one night by the bed- 
side of the little sufferers, and brought them safely 
through. The gratitude of the parents was un- 
bounded. Dr. Moore continued to co-operate with 
the Sisters until he went abroad. Later he entered 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 115 

the Church of Rome, and is now a devoted priest 
doing duty out West. 

A Bible Reader having been recommended as an 
efficient help in their work, the Sisters employed in 
that capacity for several months, Mrs. Boyd, who 
afterwards took the position of matron in the " Free 
Dormitory for Women," which was under the 
auspices of the " Fraternals," a society of young men 
belonging to the Church of the Strangers. The 
Sisters co-operated with the " Fraternals " as far as 
practicable by donations of money and clothing for 
the women. Bedding and other necessary articles 
were also contributed from time to time. Applicants 
sent by the Sisters received free shelter at the Dor- 
mitory. To aid the " Fraternals " in this work still 
further, as well as for their own accommodation, the 
Sisters furnished a room in the Dormitory with two 
beds. This chamber was reserved for their appli- 
cants until eight o'clock each evening. This branch 
of the work was called the " Helping Hand." 

In October, 1870, Dr. Deems suggested a plan for 
the establishment ofa" Home for Convalescent Men," 
to be placed under the care of the Sisters if it should 
be found feasible. He was moved to this work by 
meeting in his pastoral rounds, and elsewhere, so 
many men who had been discharged from the hospitals 
in New York, because they had been pronounced 
"cured," but who were too weak to go about the dis- 
heartening task of seeking employment. A week or 
two of comfortable lodging and nourishing food would, 
he believed, tide such needy ones over their first con- 



116 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

valescence and enable them to start out with renewed 
strength. 

Nothing definite was done in this direction until 
the following year, when it was determined to try to 
establish a home for this class of applicants. A com- 
mittee was appointed, consisting of Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. 
Ogden, and Mrs. Knapp, with the Pastor and Miss 
Sturtevant. They made diligent search for a house 
suitable for a home ; but failed to find such. It was 
then decided to try the experiment of placing such 
applicants as came well recommended, in families who 
would care for them at reasonable rates of compen- 
sation. Mrs. Lozier superintended this branch of the 
work. This method of providing for the men was 
continued for several months, when part of a house 
on Amity Street was taken. Furniture was supplied 
by friends of the cause, and the work went on under 
the supervision of Mrs. Lozier, Mrs. Home having 
charge of the apartments. The rooms were held until 
the spring of the following year, when removal became 
necessary, and another apartment was secured on 
Clinton Place. The former matron having resigned, 
a new one was engaged. She proved inefficient. The 
plan of maintaining a home was found to be too ex- 
pensive, and, after due deliberation, was relinquished, 
and another adopted, which has been in force ever 
since. Instead of boarding the men in private families, 
an arrangement is made for them at a respectable 
lodging house, where comfortable beds and nourishing 
meals are furnished, the bills for which are paid 
monthly by the Sisters out of a fund held by Dr. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 117 

Deems, made up of special donations for the purpose. 
$813.85 were expended the first year in caring for 91 
convalescents. Among these was an Arab, Madani 
el Koreichy, who was provided for in a private board- 
ing house during his convalescence. Afterwards, by 
a special effort, a sum of money, amounting to $91.50, 
was raised to pay his expenses to his home in Algiers. 
In the six years, ending Dec. 31, 1886, $2,155.56 was 
collected and expended in caring for 254 convales- 
cents. The rent of the rooms and necessary supplies 
for the home rendered the outlay in the first two years 
greater than in the subsequent four years. Since the 
lodging house plan was adopted the board of each 
man has averaged about $4.50 a week. 

A new and interesting feature of the work was be- 
gun in July, 1883, through a suggestion of Miss Agnes 
Saunders, formerly an inmate of the Half-Orphan 
Asylum in New York City. Gratefully remembering 
the care given to herself when too young to earn her 
own support, she resolved to devote her summer 
vacation to a few poor children, who had no other 
chance for country recreation. In a letter to Dr. 
Deems she made known her wish, and asked for co- 
operation. By an appeal from the pulpit the funds 
were raised, and the Sisters gladly superintended the 
enterprise The experiment proved a success. Nine 
poor children had the benefit of seven weeks in the 
country, with good food, shelter, clothing, and such 
moral training as they had never known before. The 
party occupied a cottage owned by Mr. Moody, the 
evangelist, in Northfield, Mass. It was named 



ii 8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

" Happy Home" by Miss Saunders, who found great 
delight in the companionship of her little charge, a 
band of lovable and tractable children. They returned 
in September, well supplied with warm clothing for 
the winter, and without having had one hour of sick- 
ness. Mr. O. L. Johnson, Jr., Treasurer of the Nor- 
wich and New York Transportation Co., furnished 
tickets for the party at greatly reduced rates. The 
necessary bedding and furniture for the cottage was 
loaned by the Young Ladies' Seminary, in North- 
field, established by Mr. Moody. Special donations, 
amounting to $149.50, covered the expenses. The 
enterprise found many friends in Northfield, w T ho sent 
generous supplies of butter, milk, and other provisions 
to feed the little ones. These were inestimable lux- 
uries to the children, who were all unused to such 
things. We are not permitted to mention the names 
of those who supported this good work, but, — " Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, 
ye have done it unto me." 

In 1884 the illness of Miss Saunders rendered it 
impracticable to repeat the fresh-air work of the pre- 
vious summer, but several children were made happy 
by trips to the seaside, the funds for which were con- 
tributed by other children more highly favored, who 
thought they would enjoy their own country sports 
the more for having helped some poor little ones to 
a taste of like pleasure. One sweet little boy wrote 
to the Secretary thus: " Dear Miss Cecile, — I send 
you all my money. When it gets warmer in New 
York, please give it to the poor little children, so they 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 119 

can play in the sand on the sea-shore and build forts. 
Tell them they can pick, oh, so many flowers that 
don't belong to somebody, and cherries and berries 
too. We have lots of berries and squirrels and birdies 
that are very funny, cunning, and all kinds. Your 
little friend, Everitt Crawford." 

The "Hiawatha Club" contributed $200 to the 
Fresh Air Fund. This club consisted of eight little 
girls from eleven to thirteen years of age, all attending 
the same day-school. The president of the club, Miss 
Lulu S. Little, moved by tender compassion for the 
children of the poor, conceived the idea of getting up 
a fair and thus raising a Fresh Air Fund for their 
benefit. She consulted her mother, who entered 
heartily into the project, and then broached the sub- 
ject to her little companions. All were pleased with 
the idea, and the work was begun promptly and with 
energy. Seeing their zeal, the friends of these good 
children became interested, and with their generous 
co-operation the fair was a success beyond the hopes 
of the most sanguine. The little workers felt fully 
repaid for their efforts when they found themselves 
able to contribute to several charities, thereby secur- 
ing to scores of poor children a taste of fresh air and 
country life. And all this grew out of the heart of 
one simple child. " Of such is the Kingdom of 
Heaven ! " 

In July, 1885, tne restored health of Miss Saunders 
enabled her to take charge of the children selected 
as beneficiaries of the Fresh Air Fund. The party, 
consisting of eight little ones, taken from some of the 



izo A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

most stifling tenements in the city, were sent to a 
farm in Massachusetts, where there was plenty of 
room in-doors for every one of them, and everything 
needful out of doors for the coveted pleasures of 
childhood. These children enjoyed the treat for four 
w r eeks ; and then eight others took their places. The 
Secretary's report for the summer has the following 
account of their stay at the farm: 

" What a happy time the little beneficiaries of this 
fresh air fund are having ! They are in a farm-house 
where they have large airy sleeping rooms ; their 
meals are of abundant, wholesome food ; they have 
rides in the farm wagon, rambles in the woods, ber- 
rying excursions, and frolics in the hay fields. A 
swing in the barn is added to their pleasures, and 
each day is full of new joys which they accept grate- 
fully, and for which they make what return they can 
in good behavior. Miss Saunders is much pleased 
with the lovingness shown by these poor children. 
To most of them much hardship has come, while but 
little tenderness has fallen to their lot, so that to be 
exempt from hard words and cruel blows, to hear no 
sigh from an over-burdened mother, no curse from a 
drunken father, to be well fed, to be clean, to sleep 
on a comfortable bed, is to enjoy an existence hitherto 
unknown. Thus far they have proved most tractable, 
and their behavior in Church has been a model for the 
town children, for not one of them has had to be re- 
proved for restlessness during service. The pet of 
' Happy Home ' is a dear little girl named Sadie, 
only five years old, and looking much younger, she is 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 121 

so delicate and puny from lack of proper nourishment. 
She is a winning little creature, loved by all, and the 
'Sisters' hope to have her transformed into a plump 
and rosy child before she goes home. 

"The older girls are learning to sew, and show much 
aptitude for the needle. When the weather is warm 
they sit out under the trees with their work and sing 
with Miss Saunders, or listen while she reads to them 
some pleasant story. They are so fond of this morn- 
ing hour that they break up with reluctance when 
play-time comes. And they are learning still better 
things: about the Good Shepherd and His love for 
little children ; and although the time for such in- 
struction is but short, it is hoped that the seed thus 
sown will not be entirely thrown away, but may, in 
God's good time, spring up and bear fruit." 

Among other liberal contributions to this fund, $100 
was donated through Miss Edith Little, from the 
" Lana Ac Tela Society." The young ladies who 
composed this society, of which Miss Isabel D. Arm- 
strong was president, and Miss Louisa Haynes, cor- 
responding secretary, were school-mates of Miss 
Little, and with her desired to do something for poor 
children. So they set to work to get up a fair, and 
distributed the proceeds among several worthy ob- 
jects, including that of the Sisters, who were also in- 
debted to Mr. Wm. O. McDowell, president of the 
New York and Sea Beach Railway Company, for aid 
in sending families to Coney Island who otherwise 
Could not have enjoyed the recreation. 

In 1886 " Happy Home " was again presided over 



i22 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

by Miss Saunders during July and August. Twenty- 
four poor little waifs had each the enjoyment of four 
weeks of pure country life. In the roomy old farm- 
house they had wholesome food without stint, and 
comfortable beds, with the delights of cleanliness and 
orderly living hitherto unknown. Their out-door 
life was also rich in new experiences, and the children 
must have carried back with them many pleasant 
memories to brighten the dreary and squalid city 
quarters called home. The kind co-operation of 
Mrs. Brown, Superintendent of the Woman's Branch 
of the City Mission, enabled the ladies to provide for 
a larger number of children than they could other- 
wise have done. 

A plot in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp, 
Staten Island, was presented to the Society by Mrs. 
E. Lonsdale. The first interment was made in Janu- 
ary, 1885. A young man, native of Denmark, had 
been employed by the Sexton of the Church of the 
Strangers as an assistant, and by his uniform good 
conduct had won the respect of the Sisters. When 
his health failed they secured his admission to the 
House of Rest for Consumptives at Tremont, and 
cared for him until his decease. They bore all the 
expense of his funeral. His effects were sent to his 
sisters in Denmark through the Danish Consul. 

In addition to help given to strangers in New 
York, the Society has occasionally contributed to 
worthy objects outside the city. For instance : 

In September, 1878, $244.60 were donated to the 
sufferers from yellow fever in Memphis, Vicksburg, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 123 

and New Orleans. In addition to the money sent, 
the Society supplied provisions, medicines, blankets, 
and two cases of clothing containing seven hundred 
garments. 

Mr. Philip Phillips gave an evening of Sacred 
Song for the benefit of the sufferers, and the net pro- 
ceeds, $60, were sent to a little girl in Memphis, the 
only surviving member of a whole family that had 
been swept away by the scourge. Letters of thanks 
were received from the Sisters of St. Mary and the 
Leith Orphan Asylums in Memphis, the Protestant 
Orphan Asylum of New Orleans, and from Rev. C. 
K. Marshall, of Vicksburg, Miss. All these were 
warm in expressions of gratitude for the timely help. 

In response to an appeal for clothing, a case con- 
taining two hundred garments was sent to the poor 
of a town in Nova Scotia. 

Another case was sent to a destitute family in 
Colorado. 

In September, 1886, the whole amount of the com- 
munion offertory was appropriated to the sufferers 
from the earthquake in Charleston, S. C. 

These examples will suffice to indicate the scope 
and nature of the work done by the Sisters. 

The Dorcas Committee has been a valuable auxil- 
iary to the work of the Society. The first sewing 
circle was formed in 1871, under direction of Mrs. A. 
Simpson. Upon her resignation, in 1874, Mrs. M. E. 
Ogden was appointed to fill the position, which she 
has held ever since. The members of the committee 
meet once a week during the winter months to cut 



i2 4 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

and make garments for men, women, and children. 
Their fund is derived from members' fees, fines for 
absence, and donations. The present Committee is 
composed of the following ladies : Mrs. M. E. Ogden, 
Mrs. H. Dodge, Mrs. C. S. Shivler, Mrs. E. F. Berm- 
ingham, Mrs. A. W. Knapp, Mrs. S. A. Waterbury, 
Mrs. A. Young, Mrs. J. L. Brady, Miss M. Lee, 
Miss M. St. John, Miss K. St. John, and Miss V. 
E. Fisher. 

During fifteen years of labor, " Dorcas •' has dis- 
tributed 3,800 new garments, and cast-off clothing 
valued at $4,000. 

The funds of the Sisters have been derived from 
the subscriptions of members, donations, from vari- 
ous entertainments given by friends, and from 
bazars held by the Sisters. These bazars have 
been conducted on strictly Christian principles, and 
so harmoniously carried on as to elicit the warmest 
commendations from the Pastor, who believes them 
to have been a means of grace to all who participated 
in them. Much of the success of these efforts is 
due to the assistance rendered by the Sunday School 
of the Church of the Strangers, the Gospel Mission 
workers, the Chinese Sunday School, and the Young 
People's Society of Christian Endeavor. 

The Society has an endowment fund of $3,500, 
which is placed on good security. The Sisters are 
very desirous of having this amount increased to at 
least $10,000, the interest of which would about 
cover the necessary expenses of the work. This fund 
was started in 1869. Since that time the following 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 125 

persons have been made Patrons of the Society by 
the payment of fifty dollars : Rev. Dr. Deems, Mr. 
Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mrs. F. A. Vanderbilt, Mrs. M. 

E. Crawford, Mrs. Lispenard Stewart, Mrs. S. M„ 
Blake, Mrs. Ellen Whipple, Mr. J. H. Banker, Mr. C. 
W. Woodward, Mrs. F. F. Chrystie, Mrs. James 
Beatty, Mrs. M. E. Ogden, Mrs. R. M. Howland, 
Hon. J. Van Schaick, Mrs. H. Seixas, Mrs. E. Lons- 
dale, Mrs. H. F. Clarke, Mr. C. N. Deforest, Miss F. 
V. Crawford. 

In aid of the same fund, the following have been 
made Life Members by the payment of twenty dol- 
lars : Rev. Dr. Deems, Mrs. Dr. Charles F. Deems, 
Rev. W. H. Ten Eyck, Mrs. Ten Eyck, Rev. C. Sans, 
Mr. C. T. Smith, Mrs. A. Simpson, Mr. J. H. Keyser, 
Mrs. F. F. Chrystie, Mrs. J. C. Tillotson, Mrs. Geo. 
Trotter, Dr. Quimby, Rev. Dr. DeWitt, Mr. C. H. 
Rogers, Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin, Mrs. J. Van Ars- 
dale, Miss E. Kellogg, Rev. Dr. Savage, Mr. Wm. 
S. Bolles, Rev. Dr. Torrey, Mr. J. E. Halsey, Miss 
C. Van Wyck, Mrs. H. M. Cronly, Mrs. Beauchamp, 
Mrs. B. R. Connolly, Mr. H. P. Smith, Miss C. 
Sturtevant, Miss Louise Deems, Dr. F. Moore, Mr. 
R. L. Crawford, Mrs. R. L. Crawford, Miss F. V. 
Crawford, Mrs. J. Thomas, Miss E. M. Finch, Horn 
J. C. Spencer, Mrs. S. Bland, Miss M. J. W. Simp- 
son, Miss L. Halsey, Miss M. C. Chrystie, Mrs. L. 
S. Street, Miss C. B. Wardlaw, Miss M. W. Coutts, 
Miss H. E. Eels, " A Cuban," Mrs. A. B. Hen- 
riques, Miss R. Sturtevant, Mr. M. K. Jesup, Mrs. 

F. H. Coutts, General Beauregard, Mr. Sam Ward. 



i 2 6 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

In April, 1884, the Society was incorporated under 
the Act of the Legislature known as " Chapter 319 
of the Laws of 1848." Harrington Putnam, Esq., 
generously gave his services in securing the incor- 
poration, and begged the ladies to accept the favor as 
his contribution to the cause. 

From the beginning of their work and covering a 
period of seventeen years, the Sisters have disbursed 
$23,446.11. They have helped 8,415 persons, and 
through them and their families many other persons. 
Of the 8,415 recorded, 4,311 have been Americans, 
and 4,104 foreigners. 

Throughout all the years of the Sisters' work the 
Church of the Strangers has entrusted to them the 
disbursement of the Communion offertory for the 
poor. The claims of needy members of the Church 
having first consideration, the balance, if any, has been 
allowed to go to the general work of the Society. 
Whenever the offertory fell short of what was required 
by Church members, the Sisters have made up the 
deficiency from their fund. The disposition made of 
this money is reported to the Advisory Council. 

The following ladies have been from time to time 
Presidents of the Society : Mrs. S. M. Blake, and 
Mrs. Charles F. Deems. 

The following have been Directresses : Mrs. Charles 
F. Deems, Mrs. John Thomas, Mrs. S. M. Blake, 
Mrs. H. Seixas, Mrs. E. Whipple, Mrs. Jas. Beatty, 
Mrs. F. A. Vanderbilt, Mrs. L. H. Keep, Mrs. E. 
Lonsdale, Mrs. E. F. Bermingham, and Mrs. M. E. 
Crawford. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 127 

The following have been Managers : Mrs. Charles 
F. Deems, Mrs. J. L. Graham, Mrs. J. Thomas, 
Mrs. R. C. Gardner, Mrs. Jas. Beatty, Mrs. F. A. 
Moulton, Mrs. R. H. Johnson, Mrs. M. C. Lloyd, 
Mrs. A. Simpson, Mrs. J. Sherwood, Mrs. E. 
Whipple, Mrs. E. F. Bermingham, Mrs. E. Lons- 
dale, Mrs. J. C. Tillotson, Mrs. A. H. Keep, Mrs. 
George W. Clarke, Mrs. Dr. Freligh, Mrs. T. J. 
Titus, Mrs. Dr. J. T. Kennedy, Mrs. A. J. Requier, 
Mrs. J. Bedford, Mrs. Wm. H. Gray, Mrs. L. Street, 
Mrs. S. A. Crane, Mrs. A. H. Elliott, Mrs. Wm. A. 
McLaughlin, Mrs. Wm. Mitchell, Mrs. M. E. Ogden, 
Mrs. A. W. Knapp, Mrs. J. J. Little, Mrs. J. Ross, 
Mrs. J. M. Smith, Mrs. Dr. C. E. Campbell, Mrs. H. 
Dodge, Mrs. F. Wheeler, Mrs. C. S. Shivler, Miss M. 
St. John, Miss K. St. John, Miss R. Sturtevant, 
Mrs. Dr. A. L. Turner, and Mrs. M. E. Crawford. 

The work of the Sisters has been carried on unos- 
tentatiously, and with as little machinery as practi- 
cable. 

The giving of money has been the easiest part of 
the labor. To stir up the sluggish, to encourage the 
hopeless, and to impart knowledge to the ignorant, 
were tasks far more difficult, requiring patience and 
discretion. The peculiar nature of the work. rendered 
investigation difficult, and, in many cases, impossible. 
A majority of applicants had no " local habitation," 
but were often found to claim more than one " name." 
Sometimes to refuse instant help might be cruel, to 
give might encourage imposition. Much of the work 
had to be done directly from the office, if done at all. 



128 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Great discrimination was required in order to do jus- 
tice to the worthy. The Secretary often found her 
powers taxed to the utmost, and must have given up 
her position but for the kindness and ready help of 
her associates in the work. But there were occasions 
when her own judgment had to decide for or against 
the applicant. Many a tale of woe poured into her 
ears would furnish a " Romance " indeed, whether of 
" Providence " or some other origin ! 

In a pleasant little poem characterizing the differ- 
ent departments of work in the Church of the Stran- 
gers, Mr. George Taylor, a former member of the 
Advisory Council, thus speaks of the Sisters : 



There are our noble " Sisters," too, 
God bless them one and all ; 

Their loving deeds, from day to day, 
Silent as snowflakes fall. 



No bright parade nor trumpet tongues 
Herald their deeds abroad ; 

They move in silence, as becomes 
The messengers of God. 

But warm from many a grateful heart, 

And many lonely beds, 
The ardent prayer ascends to Heaven, 

For blessings on their heads. 



And while they smooth life's thorny way 

To many a sorrowing one, 
May each one hear the Master say, 

" Servant of God, well done." 




MKS. FKANK A. VANDERBILT. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 129 



MRS. VANDERBILT. 

As probably there never lived a man who had done 
so much for an institution, and so little lorded it over 
his beneficiary, as the first Cornelius Vanderbilt, so 
there never could have been in any Christian society 
a more modest woman than his wife. She assumed 
no superiority, listened quietly to all suggestions, and 
was ready to supply the means of aiding projects of 
others, when commended to her judgment. 

On May 4th, 1885, the Society was sadly bereaved 
by the death of this its beloved first Directress. 
Mrs. Frank A. Vanderbilt, by her sweet sympathy 
and unobtrusive benefactions, had won the affection 
of all the Sisters, and especially of the Secretary, who 
speaks of her in terms of enthusiastic admiration. A 
writer in the Christian Worker said of her : 

11 The papers have announced the death of this 
1 elect lady.' All over the land she has scattered her 
benedictions, to public institutions, private charities, 
missions, schools, orphans, widows, aged clergymen, 
and people in almost every kind of straitness, in 
mind, body, and estate. She was known to the 
whole Church of the Strangers, to whom she ful- 
filled the prophecy, ' Queens shall be their nursing 
mothers.' ' The Sisters of the Stranger ' lose an 
honored and beloved Directress. Her last words to 
her Pastor, Rev. Dr. Deems, were uttered brokenly 
with failing breath : ' I am — going, — not triumphant, — 
but — trusting' Let that be the motto of the bereaved 
Sisterhood : ' Not triumphant, but trusting.' 



130 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

" The following lines are from the pen of Mrs. Julia 
G. Skinner : 

"IN MEMORIAM — MAY 4, 1885. 

It is meet that the earth should receive her 

In the thrill of her May-time bliss ; 
When stirred into fragrance and beauty 

At the touch of the south wind's kiss. 

" For earth has a holier mission 
Than gladdening human eyes ; 
She foldeth rare germs in her bosom, 
That must blossom in Paradise. 

" And, oh ! in the season supernal, 

I think the sweet June draweth near, 
The time when God's Lilies and Roses 
Are born in the upper sphere. 

" And angels, a-wing o'er the gardens, 
Are pausing in serried array 
For grace of a wondrous white Lily, 
That opened its heart there to-day." 

THE SISTERS' BAZAR. 

We are aware of the objections urged by a large 
body of conscientious Christians against the " Church 
Fair." It is not our purpose to make light of those 
objections, nor to attempt a conversion of those who 
make them. It may not be amiss, however, to explain 
what we mean by " Bazar," a term which is frequently 
employed in the preceding pages. 

We are not of those who believe in doing evil that 
good may come. We believe that gambling is a sin ; 
and it makes little difference whether it be carried on 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 131 

in a grog-shop, on a race-course, or in a church. The 
thing itself is bad, independently of the motive of the 
gambler. Whether the gambling be done by profes- 
sionals for selfish purposes, or by Church people for 
beneficent purposes, is of little consequence as affect- 
ing the moral quality of the act. That which the secu- 
lar government prohibits in the interest of morality, 
ought not to be done by the Churches in the interest 
of charity, and in the name of Christ. We go, there- 
fore, with the most radical in the unqualified condem- 
nation of any " Church Fair " where lotteries are per- 
mitted. 

What is true of gambling is true of blackmailing. If 
Christians cannot help the poor or the heathen with- 
out a resort to swindling, the poor and the heathen 
had better be left to perish ; for poverty is not a 
crime ; and if the heathen lives according to the light 
that is in him, he may be better off than they who 
sin against light by robbing people to save him. We 
have heard of "Fairs " where two or three prices 
were charged for every article, and where a man's 
pockets were almost literally rifled if he had the 
temerity to venture in. All this is not only anti- 
Christian, it is immoral and indecent. 

The Bazar of the Sisters of the Stranger sanctions 
no gambling, no swindling, and no pressing solicita- 
tion. The articles are contributed by the members of 
the Church, the Sunday Schools, the Young People's 
Society, and others. As nearly as it can be done, every 
article is sold a little under the market value. And 
this is all there is of the Sisters' Bazar. 



i 3 2 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

You may, if you please, urge that the distribution 
of money so obtained is not Christian giving. We will 
consider that later. For the present, you will probably 
grant that at least no crime has been committed. 
Those who gave their property to the Sisters com- 
mitted no crime ; those who sold the property for the 
Sisters at a fair price committed no crime ; and those 
who gave the money thus honestly obtained from the 
sale of property voluntarily donated committed no 
crime. No one has been robbed, no one has been 
cheated, no one has been wronged in any way. 

Moreover, the money is doing the same good to 
those who receive it as it would have done if it had 
been contributed directly to the Society. 

Granting, then, that no one has been injured, and 
that somebody has been benefited, two questions re- 
main to be answered. 

i. Is the Bazar a Christian mode of giving? 

2. If not, is it better than not giving at all ? 

A Christian gift is prompted by that love which a 
man has for humanity because Christ died for the 
race. Out of the common Fatherhood of God grows 
the common brotherhood of man. Christian love is 
the love of man for Christ's sake ; and Christian be- 
neficence is Christian love at work. Now, any con- 
tribution of money, or property, or time, or talent, is 
a Christian gift when it is prompted by Christian 
love. No man can tell, therefore, whether property 
given to the Sisters' Bazar constitutes Christian giv- 
ing without knowing the motive of the donor. And 
is not the same true of money directly obtained by 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 133 

collection or otherwise ? And, moreover, in either 
case, the Society is simply the almoner of those who 
contribute their money or property. The motive is 
a question for the conscience of the giver. If the 
almoner contributes time or money of his own he is 
responsible for the motive of his gift, but no further. 
In answer to the question, therefore, as to whether 
the proceeds of the Bazar constitute a Christian gift, 
we shall be obliged to say : We do not know ; but we 
believe that we have no more right to question the 
motive of the man who gives property than of the 
man who gives money. 

But suppose you question the validity of this con- 
clusion. Suppose you admit that the money obtained 
through the Bazar was honestly and properly acquired, 
but deny that it constitutes Christian giving ; then 
what ? Would it be better not to have given at all 
than to have given in that way? 

To say that the practice of every human virtue is 
incited by some motive is simply to state the truism 
that every effect must have a cause. And we all 
know that among the incentives to virtue there is a 
wide range. The incentives of the child are not the 
same as those of the adult. Even among children of 
the same age a great diversity prevails. A mere re- 
quest in one case may accomplish what it requires the 
rod to effect in the other. So among men, the in- 
centives to right action are infinite. One man does 
right because it is right. That is the highest motive. 
Another does right because he is afraid to do wrong. 
That is an incentive of a much lower grade ; but yet 



134 . A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

so important is the practice of virtue that we encour- 
age men and children to do right even from poor in- 
centives, rather than do wrong from the best of mo- 
tives. 

Now, giving is a very important thing to the Chris- 
tian. Jesus was accustomed to say, " It is more 
blessed to give than to receive." And if there be 
Christians — babes in Christ — who cannot be moved by 
the higher incentive of love to give of their substance, 
we believe it is better that such should give from poor 
incentives rather than not give at all. We believe it 
is possible to begin the practice of virtue on low in- 
centives, and as we grow strong by exercise rise to 
higher ones ; whereas if none but the highest motives 
were employed, many who now begin in weakness 
would never begin. In the school of morality and 
spirituality, as well as the secular school, the studies 
and incentives must be graded according to the age 
and previous acquirements of the learner. 

If, therefore, it be claimed that the Bazar is only 
'* indirect " giving and not Christian giving, we still 
believe that even such giving is better than no giv- 
ing. 



XII. 

1878. 

The Missionary Society. 

IN another chapter it is shown that the Missionary 
Society was originally a protege of the Sunday 
School. In its early days the Church was 
deeply occupied with the problem of survival, and it 
did not make plans for outside work until it was able 
to make ends meet inside. Nevertheless, the mission- 
ary spirit was carefully fostered in the Sunday School. 
At least two missionaries had been supported for nine 
years. 

In January, 1878, the Society was transplanted into 
the Church. The terms of membership were fixed at 
one dollar per annum, payable annually or quarterly 
in advance. It was further decided that the payment 
of five dollars at one time should constitute the donor 
a Life Member, and of twenty-five, a Patron. 

The officers of the Society consist of a President, 
who is the Pastor ; a Vice-President, who is the 
Superintendent of the Sunday School ; and an Ex- 
ecutive Committee of six ladies and six gentlemen, 
who select a Secretary and a Treasurer from among 
their own number. 

Since the establishment of the Gospel Mission, the 
Chinese Sunday School, and the Young People's So- 



136 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

ciety, each of these bodies is represented on the Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

MISSIONARY PRAYER MEETING. 

In 1884, a Quarterly Missionary Prayer Meeting, 
under the joint auspices of the Missionary and Prayer 
Meeting Committees, was inaugurated. At these 
meetings special effort is made to cultivate the mis- 
sionary spirit. Persons are engaged to deliver ad- 
dresses on appropriate topics. The hymns, the 
speeches, the prayers, are full of the chosen theme. 
The Secretary sometimes reads letters received from 
missionaries; appeals are made, not for present money 
(though the collection is never forgotten) so much as 
fixed missionary endeavor on the part of Church mem- 
bers. The lack of Christian people is not means, but 
fixed Jiabits of giving on principle. Thus a penny a 
day is certainly no hardship for almost any man who 
labors. But a penny a day systematically given would 
amount in a year to $3.65. That this is far above 
the average contribution of Churches is shown thus : 

From the Sixty-seventh Annual Report of the 
Missionary Society of the M. E. Church (North) the 
following table of averages per member for the New 
York Conference, is copied: 1876, 78.7 cts. ; 1877, 
98.3 cts.; 1878, 64.4 cts.; 1879, 65.2 cts - \ l88o > 
63 cts. ; 1881, 72.9 cts.; 1882, 75.7 cts. ; 1883, 73.7 cts.; 
1884, 73.5 cts.; 1885, 70.9 cts. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United 
States reports for 1884 a membership of 366,337, in 
4,446 parishes. Only 40 per cent, of these parishes 



4 ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 137 

contributed to the General Society. The Treasurer 
reports $271,725 in receipts, which is an average 
of 74 cts. per capita, counting the entire membership, 
or $1.85, counting only the contributing parishes (Re- 
port Domestic and Foreign Miss. Soc, P. E. Church, 
1884). 

In 1880* there were in the United States about 
40,000,000 nominal Christians, including Roman Cath- 
olics. The amount collected in that year for for- 
eign missions was $2,250,000; for home missions, 
$2,750,000; total, $5,000,000. This is an average per 
capita of 12 cts. 

The same year the Church of the Strangers contrib- 
uted 65 cts. per capita. Four years later, when Epis- 
copalians were contributing 74 cts., and New York 
Methodists 73 cts., the Church of the Strangers gave 
$2.00 a head. 

The Church expenses f of New York City are 
$3,000,000 per annum. If Christianity lived up to 
the Golden Rule, New York alone ought, in 1880, to 
have given $3,000,000 for missions. The whole 
country gave only $5,000,000. The same year New 
York's liquor bill was $60,000,000, or $49.70 for every 
soul! Now, rum is at best only a luxury. It is 
neither capital, nor any other kind of wealth. It has 
no claim to be classed among the substantial assets 
of the community. 

If New York gave therefore " as God hath prospered 
her,'' she ought to contribute at least $60,000,000 per 

* Van Lennep and Schauffler's Growth of Christianity. 
f Idem. 



i 3 8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

annum for missions, for that amount represents but a 
single item of worse than useless luxury. 

But during the same year New York spent also 
$7,000,000 for the theatre, and $4,000,000 for police 
to keep the rum-drinkers quiet. 

All this money that represents the luxury and vice 
of the community, is given with more or less system. 
A man goes to theatre a certain number of times a 
week, or month, or year. The drinker observes still 
greater regularity. In the morning he takes his 
" antifogmatic " to get an appetite. After each meal 
something is needed to stimulate digestion. Liquor 
is uniformly taken — in cold weather — to keep warm, 
and — in warm weather — to keep cool. 

Even the smoker needs at least five cents a day. 
Who knows but he gives his Church five cents a week 
and excuses himself for not giving more on the plea 
of poverty! 

In short, our vices demand and receive systematic 
contributions ; what we need is to give some of this 
systematic and costly devotion to virtue. 

As the Church has had thus far only a small fund 
at its disposal for mission work, it has not attempted 
to occupy an ambitious field in its own name. The 
Gospel Mission on Bleecker Street and the Chinese 
Sunday School are the only such enterprises managed 
wholly by members of the Church of the Strangers; 
and the latter of these, as will be seen elsewhere in 
this history, is already more than self-supporting. 
The Church has thought it wise to use institutions 
well and favorably known as organs to perform its 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 139 

missionary functions. In this way the money is 
handled with almost no expense, is divided into small 
amounts, which is an insurance against loss, and prob- 
ably does more good to a greater number than the 
lump sum could do in one place. 

The effect upon the Church of this sacrifice of am- 
bition to efficiency, is to be counted among the bene- 
fits of the system. The uniform question proposed 
by the Missionary Committee in making appropria- 
tions has been, not, Where will I get a name? but, 
Where am I needed most? Where can I do most 
good ? Whenever an appeal has come for help from 
any source, one thing only was demanded : What are 
you doing? never: What is your name? So it happens 
that Methodist, North and South, Baptist, Reformed, 
Lutheran, Mennonite, Presbyterian, have each applied 
to the Society for help with equal success, provided 
their charity appeared in any way to enlighten human 
ignorance or to relieve human necessity. " All for 
Jesus/' is the motto of the Church. " In essentials, 
unity ; in non-essentials, liberty ; in all things, love," 
properly describes her policy. Members are fre- 
quently asked: " To what denomination does the 
Church of the Strangers belong?" The stereotyped 
answer is : " We belong to all, and all belong to us." 

Let a stranger come to New York from whatever 
quarter of the globe he may, of whatever name, race, 
or color, craving human sympathy or Christian fellow- 
ship, and he will find his Church here ; a Church or- 
ganized especially for him. And there are probably 
few States or Territories in the Union, few countries 



140 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

on any Continent, that have not some man or woman 
who has at one time belonged to the Church of the 
Strangers or worshiped therein. 

SOME OF OUR FIELDS. 

The Syrian Protestant College at Beirut, Syria, was 
incorporated in 1863 by the Legislature of the State 
of New York, and is under the control of a Board of 
Trustees residing here, who have control of all the 
general College funds. 

The religious instruction of the College consists of 
regular weekly Bible recitations. There are morning 
and evening prayers daily, and a regular preaching 
service every Sunday morning in the chapel. There 
are also Bible classes Sunday afternoon, conducted by 
the various teachers. 

The Church of the Strangers has endowed a scholar- 
ship ($80 annually) for the benefit of Amin Haddad, 
who has completed the academic course and has, at 
this writing, reached his third year in the medical 
department. The College has now in charge another 
student, recently transferred from Jerusalem, and 
maintained by this Church. 

Bethany Institute, in New York City, provides in- 
struction for women who desire to become mission- 
aries, Bible readers, or nurses. For years the So- 
ciety has contributed its mite to this institution. 

The McAll Mission, in France, is well known to in- 
telligent Christians in this country. Mr. M. S. 
Berger, its Executive Secretary, preached, in 1883, a 
stirring sermon in this Church. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 141 

At the conclusion of the sermon several persons 
came forward and made up a fund of $200 for the 
Mission, with the request that it be used for the es- 
tablishment of a " Deems Station " of the McAll 
Mission. 

Nothing more is needed to show the remarkable 
receptivity of the French nation at this time for the 
truth of a warm Gospel than the success of the McAll 
Mission. It was inaugurated about ten years ago by 
Robt. W. McAll, a Congregational clergyman of 
England. He began in that district of Paris where 
the old members of the infamous Commune live. 
The first service was held in a place lately occupied 
by a saloon, and was attended by forty-five persons. 
At present the Mission has thirty-two stations in 
Paris alone, which are nightly crowded, and forty- 
eight stations located in other large cities of the re- 
public. 

The Seamen s Friend Society has its office at 80 
Wall Street, N. Y. Part of its work is to furnish 
loan libraries for the crews of sea-going vessels. A 
library contains, on an average, thirty-six volumes, 
always including the Holy Bible, unless it is found, 
upon inquiry, that the vessel upon which the library 
is placed is already supplied with it. Accompanying 
the Bible are other carefully chosen religious books, 
and a choice selection of miscellaneous volumes- 
Each library ordinarily has two or three volumes in 
German, Danish, French, Spanish, or Italian ; the 
others are in English. The library is numbered, 
labeled, and placed upon a sea-going vessel leaving the 



142 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

port of New York or Boston, as a loan to the ship's 
company, every one being receipted, registered, and 
then assigned to the donor of the funds which pay for 
it, who is thereupon notified of its shipment. For 
every contribution of twenty dollars for that pur- 
pose, a library is sent out in the name of the 
donor. 

Dr. Samuel H. Hall, the Secretary of this Society, 
has repeatedly spoken at Missionary Prayer Meetings 
of the Church of the Strangers. He is full of his sub- 
ject, and has always an interesting story to tell about 
Jack and the Coming Kingdom. The Society is an 
organized effort to use commerce as a messenger of 
the Gospel. Sailors have peculiar advantages as 
missionaries, and a sailor once converted never 
deserts. They are a brave and manly class of men, 
well worth saving. 

These loan libraries have led hundreds of seamen 
to the Saviour of sinners. Individual sailors, entire 
crews, and very many officers have been made Chris- 
tians by this agency. The faith of Christian seamen 
is fed and quickened by these books. Their use by 
individuals, and at meetings for religious service at 
sea, has been instrumental in promoting the observ- 
ance of the Sabbath. They inform and elevate the 
sailor mentally. Relieving the tedium of sea life, they 
take the place of indifferent and vile publications. 
They change sailors' habits, discouraging profanity 
and obscenity, and inducing temperance and chas- 
tity. As an issue of these results, a ship's discipline 
is improved by a library ; safety of life and property 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



143 



is increased, and voyages become, in every way, more 
certain and profitable. 

The whole number of new loan libraries sent to 
sea from the rooms of the Seamen's Friend Society 
at New York and at Boston, Mass., from 1858-9 to 
April 1st, 1886, was 8,512; and the reshipments of 
the same for the same period were 9,170, the total 
shipments aggregating 17,682. The number of 
volumes in these libraries was 452,768, and they were 
accessible, by original and reshipment, to 324,683 
men. Nine hundred and fifty-eight libraries, with 
24,438 volumes, were placed upon vessels in the 
United States Navy and in naval hospitals, and were 
accessible to 109,530 men. One hundred and four- 
teen libraries were placed in one hundred and four- 
teen stations of the United States Life Saving Ser- 
vice, containing 4,104 volumes, accessible to 810 
keepers and surfmen. 

Of these libraries the Church of the Strangers has 
provided eight. 

The New York Medical Missioft is about four years 
old. It has been several times represented at the 
Missionary Prayer Meetings by Dr. Dowkontt and Mr. 
Leighton Williams. 

In the Gospels much of the preaching of Jesus is 
associated with the miraculous healing of the sick. 
41 Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed 
them all." The Lord sends forth His disciples with 
the command to " heal the sick and preach the Gos- 
pel." As its name implies, the Medical Mission is an 
organization whose aim is to heal the soul as well as 



i44 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

the body. The gratuitous dispensing of medicines is 
thus used as a means of presenting the Word to those 
who could not otherwise be eached. Dispensaries 
have been opened at 81 Roosevelt Street, Madison 
Avenue and Gouverneur Street, 42 Baxter Street, 
310 W. Fifty-fourth Street, and one in connection 
with our Gospel Mission, corner of Bleecker Street 
and South Fifth Avenue. At each of these places a 
religious service is conducted during office hours, so 
that while patients are waiting in line for their 
remedies they involuntarily listen to the voice of 
prayer and the melodies of sacred song. Sickness 
prepares the heart for the reception of solemn truth. 
Imagine some friendless, starving inmate of a tene- 
ment, drooping under the despair of wasting disease, 
suddenly aroused by distant strains of — 

" What a friend we have in Jesus, 
All our sins and griefs to bear ; 
What a privilege to carry 
Everything to God in prayer !" 

Such a message so borne has won trophies for the 
Master where ordinary methods had failed. 

Another part of the Medical Mission's work is to 
prepare medical missionaries. The great want of 
heathen lands to-day is doctors no less than Chris- 
tianity. To the ear of Christendom comes the agoniz- 
ing cry of the heathen world for medical aid and the 
Gospel of peace. There are nearly 1,000,000,000 of 
heathen in the world. Of these 40,000,000 die annu- 
ally without any medical aid. There is one medical 
missionary to about 10,000,000 of heathen, while in 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 145 

the United States, there was, in 1880, one doctor to 
every 585 persons. A man in New York breaks his 
leg and is taken to the hospital, where he receives 
skillful treatment and rapidly recovers. A man in 
China breaks his leg, and before the doctor comes 
it rots off. 

The Medical Mission has received much sympathy 
and a number of small donations from the Church of 
the Strangers. 

" The Tombs Mission " is a term here used to de- 
note the work of Rev. S. G. Law. It is a non-sec- 
tarian and voluntary effort on the part of an humble 
and useful minister to reclaim criminals to a life of 
virtue and a saving faith in Jesus Christ. This clergy- 
man has on several occasions addressed our Mission- 
ary Society, and has the entire confidence of the 
same. 

The Tombs, as every reader knows, is the city 
prison of New York. It contains persons accused of 
crime and awaiting trial. It is the same ''dismal- 
fronted pile of bastard Egyptian " that Dickens saw 
in 1842. It is among the famous prisons of the 
world, and seemed to the imagination of the novelist 
" like an enchanter's palace in a melodrama." In the 
neighborhood of the City Hall there was formerly a 
pond, connected by a strip of swamp running in the 
direction of what is now Canal Street. In 1836 this 
pond was filled in, and on the site arose, within two 
years, a magnificent granite structure covering an en- 
tire block, and known, from its damp and unhealthy 
condition at first, as the Tombs. It is one of the most 



146 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

imposing buildings on the island ; but so unfortunate 
in its situation that the effects of its grand propor- 
tions are entirely lost. 

Within the high wall that surrounds the prison on 
all sides are narrow buildings, four stories high, with 
galleries running along the walls instead of floors, so 
that the centre is open from the ground to the ceil- 
ing. On each tier are two opposite rows of small iron 
doors — like furnace doors they seem — but cold and 
black, as though the fires within had all burned out. 
Behind each door is a human being deprived of lib- 
erty for an alleged crime. Prisoners wear their own 
apparel, and enjoy many privileges which a convict 
does not share. Over each door hangs a small slate, 
whereon the name of the inmate is written. 

Standing in these galleries, where his voice may be 
heard by every prisoner who cares to go to the grated 
door of his cell, Mr. Law may be heard on certain 
days of the week preaching the Gospel. He does not 
see his audience ; does not even know whether he has 
any. The majority may scoff at his words ; others 
may refuse to listen. But perhaps there is one whose 
early life of piety, bringing with it the face of his dead 
mother, is now recalled by the words of the good 
man. He is led to repentance. The next day when 
Mr. Law passes fro*m cell to cell to seek by private 
interview for the fruit of his preaching, this prisoner 
opens his heart, the two go on their knees together, 
and there, on the stony floor, begins a new life in 
Christ Jesus. 

For five years Mr. Law has had support from the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 147 

Church of the Strangers. He never begs, thankfully 
receives what is given, and is content to publish the 
glad tidings in this obscure and unpromising field, 
leaving the results to his Master. 

The interest of the Church of the Strangers in this 
Mission may have been originally stirred by the fact 
that in the beginning of his ministry in New York 
Dr. Deems had, every Monday morning, for months 
labored with the prisoners for more than an hour, 
and had become greatly interested in a work 
which he continued so long as other duties 
allowed. 

The Hebrew Christian Church (17 St. Mark's Place, 
N. Y.). — To recount in detail how the late Rev. 
Charles Freshman, D.D., a distinguished rabbi of 
Hungary, graduate of the Jewish Theological Semi- 
nary at Prague, came to Canada in 1855 and settled 
down as the rabbi of the Synagogue in Quebec ; how 
he was led to consider the question whether, after all, 
Christians might be right in accepting Jesus Christ as 
the Messiah ; how he was converted ; how he began 
missionary work in his own family ; how his father, 
mother, brothers and sisters received the rite of bap- 
tism in a Methodist Church, and in the presence of an 
immense congregation ; how the children, seven in 
number, from the lad of sixteen down to the infant 
in arms, were ranged up and also admitted into 
Church ; all this, we say, were too long for our pur- 
pose ; but it is a thrilling story. 

One of those children was Rev. Jacob Freshman, 
now Pastor of the " First Hebrew Christian Church in 



148 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

America." Jacob was thoroughly converted to God. 
He began his Christian ministry in a Sunday School ; 
then he became a local preacher ; and finally a 
regular minister under the control of the Mon- 
treal Conference of the Methodist Church in 
Canada. 

He yearned to preach to his brethren " according 
to the flesh." For this purpose he came to New York 
some five years ago, casting himself entirely on the 
Lord. Among those who early encouraged him was 
Dr. Deems. Beginning in the most humble manner 
and obscure places, Mr. Freshman gradually obtained 
for himself a hearing both among Hebrews and Chris- 
tians : convert followed convert ; the army of sup- 
porters grew in numbers ; quarters were enlarged ; 
confidence of friends increased, and the result is : an 
organized Church, in a house of its. own, valued, with 
contents, at $25,000; regular preaching to Jews every 
Sunday in English ; prayer meeting on Friday night; 
Sunday School on Sunday morning ; preaching at the 
" Jewish Mission Hall," 73 Allen Street, in German 
and English, every Saturday; The Hcbrczv-Christian y 
a bi-monthly pleading the cause ; and a general 
awakening of interest among Christians for Hebrew 
mission work. 

The Missionary Society of the Church of the 
Strangers is a regular contributor to this mission. 
But the Church may claim the credit of having fur- 
nished more than money. It is very evident that 
Hebrew mission work must be undenominational to 
be thoroughly successful. The Church of the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 149 

Strangers has demonstrated the possibility of Chris- 
tian unity, and its creed and form of organization 
have been substantially adopted by Mr. Freshman for 
his Church. Among the members of his " Advisory 
Committee " we find Dr. Deems, Dr. J. M. Buckley, 
Dr. Wm. M. Taylor, Dr. Marvin R. Vincent, Dr. 
R. S. McArthur, and others. 

The East-Side Chapel. — In the month of October, 
1878, the plan of a proposed mission and reading- 
room, to be located somewhere on the East Side, was 
submitted to Dr. Deems. The result was that, with 
a fund contributed by him and a lady, a beginning 
was made at 401 First Avenue. Dr. Deems dedicated 
the Mission on October 21, 1878. For a few months 
the work was largely supported by members of the 
Church of the Strangers. Finding, however, that the 
entire support of the Mission would be too great a 
burden upon the Church, and that the society of 
which the lady referred to was a member refused to 
contribute toward the support of the cause unless the 
same were kept independent of particular Churches, 
the original movers permitted the work to fall into the 
hands of the " East Side Chapel Society," who have 
ever since carried it forward. Dr. Deems remained 
a contributor for a number of years, and many of the 
members of his Church gave occasionally to the 
work. 

The " Chapel " is at present an important and 
flourishing institution, located at 404 East Fifteenth 
Street, N. Y. 

In addition to the missionary objects specified 



150 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

above, the Church of the Strangers contributes regu- 
larly to Miss Whately's English School at Cairo, 
Egypt ; to the Anglo-Chinese University at Shang- 
hai, China ; and to Bishop Gobat's Memorial School 
on Mt. Zion, Jerusalem. 



XIII. 

The Gospel Mission. 

THERE are few localities in the city of New 
York so full of the pitiful wretchedness of sin 
as that in which the " Gospel Mission " is 
placed. , One but needs to walk through this section 
to hear again the Macedonian cry. The population 
is a medley of French, German, English, colored, 
and native elements, whose poverty and squalor are 
among their most prominent characteristics. And 
when it is added that their little ones, their young 
men and women, are compelled to look continually 
upon the vice and crime that come from saloons and 
other houses of ill-fame, the need of a mission and the 
courage of those who go there to work in the name 
of Christ, will at once appear. 

The Mission at first occupied the lower floor of a 
private dwelling-house at 224 Wooster Street, be- 
tween Bleecker and West Third Streets. An enter- 
prising Chinese laundryman occupied the basement, 
and above were two or three families. A sign-board 
between the windows told the hours of meeting, and 
during the service a transparency in the window 
and a lamp over the door invited the passers-by to 
come in. 



:52 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



ORIGIN. 

In the summer of 1885 one of the members of the 
Church (Rev. Edgar W. Russell, now Pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church, Nottingham, Pa.), became con- 
vinced that he was not doing the work he ought to 
do for the Master, and proposed to himself, if he 
could obtain the necessary cash assistance and a suit- 
able room, to organize a Gospel Mission. He waited 
on the Pastor, laid the plans before him, and re- 
ceiving a hearty Godspeed, began the work. The 
hunt for suitable rooms was next undertaken, and 
proved a weary task. The East Side was ransacked 
from Orchard Street to the Bowery, and from Grand 
up to Sixteenth Streets, without success. No avail- 
able quarters were found whose occupancy would not 
intrude on the field of some other mission. Then 
the West Side was scoured and many rooms exam- 
ined, without satisfaction, when finally those above 
described were seen. They filled the needed require- 
ments of being convenient to the Church, of non-in- 
terference with other Christian work, and of being in 
a neighborhood that unquestionably needed a Gospel 
Mission. 

During all this time the matter was quietly dis- 
cussed among a few friends, who volunteered the 
necessary assistance. It was considered advisable 
that the room should not be hired until fifty dollars 
had been promised ; and the promptness with which 
this amount was obtained was very cheering. 

The rooms were taken and the work of putting 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 153 

them in an inviting condition commenced. They 
were very filthy — walls, ceiling, and floor as dirty as 
dirt could make them, and covered besides with pieces 
of wood nailed in every conceivable position. And 
then men were found in whose hearts the Spirit of the 
Lord was, who worked without charge in the paint- 
ing and other renovation. The rooms soon took on 
a different appearance, looking clean and bright. 
Chairs and hymn books were purchased, five hundred 
circulars were distributed by the young men of the 
Church, and on June 18, 1885, the Mission was 
opened by the Pastor, more than sixty persons being 
present. 

WORK. 

It was decided at the outset to hold services three 
times a week — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Satur- 
days ; and this has been the order ever since. The 
rooms were usually open at about half-past seven, 
and as soon as a sufficient number of workers ar- 
rived singing commenced, consisting of attractive 
hymns, which should either draw some outsiders in 
or leave some song-message of the Gospel ringing in 
their ears. At eight o'clock the leader took the chair 
and the formal service was opened. Singing, pray- 
ing, and testimony followed. The leaders were 
chosen from the staff of the Mission, and, occasion- 
ally, when some speaker of note could be obtained, a 
special effort was made to have a large audience. 

Outside two young men were posted, who invited 
passers-by to step inside and listen to the services. 



i 5 4 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Those who would not come in were provided with 
tracts. 

THE READING ROOM. 
As the rooms were occupied but three evenings of 
the week, it was early proposed that a " Reading" 
Room " should be opened, as a resort for those who 
attended Gospel services, and as an attraction for 
others who did not. It was using the intellectual 
net for those who refused to be caught by the Gospel 
net. Again friends came forward to help in this 
work, as they had done in the other. Tables were 
presented, and from the New York Free Circulating 
Library came a gift of nearly one hundred volumes. 
The books and magazines were catalogued, and when 
all was ready the Reading Room was quietly opened. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

The Sunday after the Gospel services began, the 
twenty-first of June, 1885, a Sunday School was 
opened, with six or seven pupils in attendance ; and 
God so blessed the labors of the brethren who were 
engaged in the work that the rooms began to be 
uncomfortably crowded. The Christmas Festival of 
'86 showed to the friends who gathered in the lecture- 
room of the Church of the Strangers, the great 
progress that had been made. 

NEW QUARTERS. 
Early in 1887 the managers began to look for 
better accommodations. They consulted Dr. Deems, 
and he encouraged them to go on. They finally found 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 155 

what they wanted at Bleecker Street corner of South 
Fifth Avenue. By this step the expenses, which are 
paid by voluntary contributions, were doubled ; yet 
every need has been supplied, and the Mission is con- 
stantly enlarging its usefulness. The attendance at the 
Sunday School averages about one hundred and 
twenty, and at the week day meetings, sixty, two- 
thirds of whom are strangers. 

SEWING SCHOOL. 

A Sewing School for girls was opened on October 
2, 1885, and is in charge of Mrs. C. Kalt. A lady, 
whose name we would fain publish had we authority 
to do so, contributes largely to the Mission, and pro- 
vides the material for the little ones to try their 
" 'prentice hands" upon, with the offer that whatever 
garments they make shall be their own. The little 
tots exhibit, with delight and pardonable pride, the 
dresses made in the Sewing School. The attendance 
at the School is about twenty-five. Only those are 
admitted who go to Sunday School and obtain the 
tickets there given. 

FRENCH SERVICE. 

Standing outside the Mission doors on the even- 
ings of the Gospel services, the young men found that 
quite a large number of the passers-by were French, 
who could speak little or no English. Opportunity 
offered, and the Committee gave one evening of the 
week into the hands of Mr. Maurer, an earnest mem- 
ber of the Church of the Strangers, and issued circu- 



156 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

lars inviting u toutes les personnes parlant le Fran- 
cais," to attend the meetings ; and some of them have 
come, and the meetings are growing. 

MANAGEMENT. 

The Mission is in charge of a " Committee of Man- 
agement " consisting of ten persons, a Superinten- 
dent, and a Secretary and Treasurer, the officers 
being ex-officio members of the Committee. The 
Committee and the officers are elected at the annual 
meeting of the Mission ; and all who are interested in 
the work can vote. The needed funds come from 
various sources. The Church treasury has never been 
appealed to, although the Missionary Society has 
made donations. 

Rev. Edgar W. Russell, who was instrumental in 
founding the Mission, acted as Superintendent from 
the opening on June 18, 1885, to August 13, of the 
same year, when he was relieved, and Mr. Robert 
Scott was appointed by the first general meeting in 
his stead. This gentleman served with great ac- 
ceptability for sixteen months, when Mr. C. P. Shu- 
art succeeded him. 

The offices of Secretary and Treasurer were hap- 
pily combined, when Mr. Russell retired, in the per- 
son of Mr. Walter Jones, who is still (1887) serving 
in that capacity. 

RESULTS. 

What the results are is known only in part; but 
what the eyes of the workers have seen of the pres- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 157 

ence of God's Spirit, has been enough to cheer them 
on. Night after night, at the Gospel Services, the 
friends can be seen praying with men, and pointing 
them to the Cross ; and many who come in without 
any thought of Christ, go away rejoicing in His 
salvation. 



XIV. 

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. 

THIS Society was organized in January, 1886. 
Thirty-seven persons signed the constitution 
as active members, and two became associate 
members. The former class are those *' who believe 
themselves to have become partakers of spiritual life ; " 
the latter, those of good character, and anxious to be- 
come true followers of Christ, but unwilling as yet to 
confess themselves as such. Within one year the 
membership had increased to sixty-nine, sixty-four 
active, and five associate. 

This division of membership was made to satisfy the 
consciences of individuals, and to v/iden the scope and 
usefulness of the Society. Thus, an *■' associate " mem- 
ber may be just as truly a " follower of Christ " as an 
"active" member; but there may be many reasons 
which might deter a young person from making a 
declaration on such a question. It might be a ques- 
tion of modesty or of doubt ; and the expressions 
" Christian " and " follower of Christ " have acquired 
almost as many meanings as there are sects of Chris- 
tianity. In the Church of the Strangers sixteen of 
these sects are represented : and while an individual 
might be a " Christian " according to one of the special 
meanings attached to the word, according to other defi- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 159 

nitions he would be entirely excluded. If, therefore, 
the Society recognized only an " active " membership, 
many young people would be found in every Church 
that would be ineligible to the Y. P. S. C. E. But this 
is an " endeavor" Society, and no one is incapable of 
endeavor. It is therefore provided that some declare 
to have achieved, what others simply desire to achieve. 

OBJECTS. 

It must be remembered that this Society exists 
within the Church, of which it is a part and function. 
Its aims are the Church's ; its fields and its methods 
are its only peculiarities. It works upon the young 
through the young. It is not a social club ; it 
is not a literary society ; its objects are spiritual ; 
it labors for the salvation of souls and the glory 
of God. 

The training of the members is accomplished by 
plans and works of Christian beneficence in and out- 
side of the Church, and by religious services conducted 
exclusively by themselves. 

Others are attracted to the Church by the personal 
efforts of the members among their friends. A number 
of recent conversions are the result of these efforts. 
Young people go out and try to interest others in the 
work of the Y. P. S. C. E., and to enroll them as asso- 
ciate members. The associate membership is a half- 
way house to active membership. It is the first step 
in the right direction. 



i6o A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



MEETINGS. 

The Society has two meetings in each month. The 
Business Meeting is held on the first Wednesday even- 
ing following the first Sunday in the month. The 
Experience Meeting occurs on the second Wednes- 
day evening after the Business Meeting. 

The word " business " sufficiently explains the 
nature of the first named meeting. The Experi- 
ence Meeting is sometimes called the Consecration 
Meeting, and properly so. Its object is not to 
foster the brazen, wordy type of Christianity, to 
acquire the cant phrases for giving " testimony," 
but to bring the members into close communion 
with Christ. The reading of inspiring passages out 
of Holy Scripture and praying are far more general 
than " exhortation " and "experience." Where the 
spirit of prayer prevails, there good is accomplished. 
It is a question whether exhortation and testimony 
always have that issue. 

In these meetings both sexes take part ; the young 
women not as frequently as could be desired, but still 
enough to give encouragement to a hope for better 
things. One of the greatest afflictions of Churches is 
the silence of the women. It requires as much grace 
in a Pastor to bear the silence of holy women as to 
suffer the verbosity of some of the brethren. It is 
among the objects of the Y. P. S. C. E. to develop 
the latent powers of young and sensible women for 
modest and womanly participation in prayer meeting 
worship. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 161 



COMMITTEES. 

1. During the year 1886 the Society had charge of 
the regular Monthly Sociable of the Church. A com- 
mittee was appointed for this purpose. 

2. The Prayer Meeting Committee has charge of 
the Vesper Service in the chapel on Sunday evening. 
The object of this meeting, which lasts half an hour, 
is to pray for the success of the Pastor's efforts. 

3. The Sunday School Committee, which is a new 
feature, has for its duties the visitation of delinquent 
scholars, and such others as the teachers may desig- 
nate. 

4. The Hotel Committee leave at the various hotels 
on Saturday invitations to the Church services of the 
following day. 

5. The Helping Hand Committee has procured 
situations for a number of young persons needing 
employment. 

A missionary collection is taken at each meeting, 
and a sociable is held at the close of every Business 
Meeting. 

RESULT. 
What good has the Church of the Strangers derived 
from the Y. P. S. C. E. ? We believe, among other 
benefits, are these : 

1. It has woven bands of attachment between the 
young people of the Church, and between them and 
the Pastor. 

2. It has borne a part of the expense of preparing 
a native boy of Syria to be a missionary. 



1 62 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

3. It has rendered valuable service to the Gospel 
Mission of the Church in this city. 

4. It has aided the " Sisters of the Stranger " in 
their charities by furnishing one of the most hand- 
some and profitable tables at their late Bazar. 

5. It has increased the power of the Church by in- 
creasing the piety of its younger members, and find- 
ing fields and suggesting methods for doing something 
for the Lord. 



XV. 

Literary Offshoots. 

HYMN BOOKS. 

AMONGST the earliest friends that gathered 
about Dr. Deems in his New York ministry 
were the sisters Alice and Phcebe Cary. Alice's 
health was so very frail that she could scarcely come 
to Church, but she kept herself constantly informed 
of the progress of the new movement, and was as- 
siduous in creating friends for it. She longed and 
prayed for a Church building. When the edifice in 
Mercer Street was opened for the services of the 
Church of the Strangers, she rejoiced with exceeding 
great joy. But she was an invalid, and never entered 
the building until tender hands brought her lifeless 
body into its chancel. 

Phcebe Cary was a wholesome person, of exuberant 
health and flowing humor. She gave practical help 
in every direction permissible by her literary engage- 
ments. 

One day, on a visit to the Pastor's house, conversa- 
tion turned upon hymn books. Both Dr. Deems and 
Miss Cary expressed their want of satisfaction with 
any extant compilation. They agreed in the opinion 
that there were not in the English language, probably, 
more than three hundred hymns that ought to be 



1 64 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

used, and so far as their experience and observation 
had gone in Churches, there were not three hundred 
that ever were used in the course of a year in any single 
congregation. 

Phcebe Carey banteringly said, " Let us make the 
model hymn book," and Dr. Deems agreed. His own 
account of it is, that after they had entered upon the 
work, both Miss Cary and himself came to the convic- 
tion that making a hymn book was no child's play. 

Their plan was to have only three hundred religious 
poems, and that these should be divided into hymns 
and spiritual songs and lyrics. It was agreed that 
each "hymn" should be a metrical address to God, 
and that the phrase "spiritual songs" should have 
some latitude of signification, embracing whatever 
might be edifying in social singing, and that among 
the "Psalms" should be admitted, many such as 
should more usually be " said" than "sung." 

To the best of their knowledge, judgment, and 
taste, first of all, one hundred best hymns were 
selected according to three characteristics, viz. : (a) 
their poetical excellence, (J?) their devotional fervor, 
and (V) their popularity. Sometimes one of these 
characteristics was so manifest as to secure a verdict 
in the absence of the^two others. But in no case was 
there admitted a hymn which the compilers did not 
believe to be in accordance with the mind of the 
Spirit as set forth in the Word of God ; not one that 
might not be sung in all its parts by all people in the 
service of the Sanctuary; and nothing was considered 
a hvmn that was not a direct address to God. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE, 165 

Amongst the "spiritual songs" were inserted some 
which got their place on account of their popularity. 
The compilers did not choose to let their standard pro- 
nounce final judgment against what thousands had 
found edifying or pleasant ; but in no case did they 
allow that feeling to secure the admission of what 
would seem offensive to pure taste. 

The third department, called "lyrics," contains a 
number of poems which can hardly be sung in a con- 
gregation, but are profitable for reading; such as 
Montgomery's " A poor wayfaring man of grief; " 
Dr. Holland's " Heaven is not gained by a single 
bound;" Adelaide Procter's "Judge Not;" Jean 
Ingelow's " O God, O Kinsman loved, but not 
enough;" Christina Rosetti's "Therefore, O friend, I 
would not if I might;" Dr. Bonar's "Tis first the 
true, and then the beautiful." By observing the 
canons they had set for themselves, and exercising 
extreme care, and examining over twenty thousand 
lyrics in several languages, the compilers produced a 
book which is believed by many to be the best col- 
lection, on the whole, in the English tongue. It has 
been adopted in several congregations, and will suit 
for worshipers of any denomination. It was intended 
that there should be no hymn which any Christian 
could not use, either in the regular Church worship, 
in social service, or in the closet. And hence the com- 
pilers believed that the name, " Hymns for all Chris- 
tians," was appropriate for their book. The work 
was mainly done at the Cary residence, 53 East 
Twentieth Street, where the compilers had the daily 



1 66 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

aid of Alice's delicate taste. The notes were all pre- 
pared by the Pastor. 

Some years after its appearance Dr. Deems wrote 
to Mr. Whittier for an original hymn for the Sunday 
Magazine, which he was then editing. Mr. Whittier 
wrote back stating that a hymn was the most difficult 
species of poetical composition. He said, " There are 
not more than twenty first-rate hymns in the English 
tongue, and thee hast them all in thy collection." 

"THE CHRISTIAN WORKER." 

In January, 1881, was issued the first number 
of the Christian Worker, an eight-page illustrated 
paper, which attracted much interest. It was ed- 
ited and published by Mrs. Sarah Keables Hunt, 
to whom, in the midst of her literary labors, it 
had occurred that there might be a place for such a 
periodical on Christian work. In the second year of 
the " Worker's" life the Church of the Strangers and 
also the Sisters of the Stranger engaged departments 
in its columns, for monthly reports of the progress of 
the Church and the Society, and now the center of 
its influence seems to be in this Church and its work, 
though news from other associations are often wel- 
comed to its columns. 

Although its pilot feels that it is only a little 
bark on a sea of great and noble ships, yet it has 
carried many a precious message and accomplished 
much good, and we believe that we echo the wishes 
of many a fellow-traveler when we bid it Godspeed 
and a long and useful journey. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 167 



THE " DEEMS BIRTHDAY BOOK. 

In 1882 a handsome volume appeared under the 
title of Deems Birthday Book. 

Mrs. Sara Keables Hunt, the editor of the Christian 
Worker, had gathered together many extracts from 
Dr. Deems's sermons, and thinking rightly that they 
deserved a place and name, she arranged and edited 
them in book form, with a selection for every day in 
the year, accompanied by a space on the opposite 
page for autographs. 

The picture of Dr. Deems, which Mrs. Hunt had 
made for the book, shows him in one of his most 
genial moods, and is very appropriate for the pretty 
volume. It is believed that many who have never 
been able to enter the Church of the Strangers have 
been won to pray for its success through the influence 
of the Deems Birthday Book, as it goes from heart to 
heart, and from home to home. 

LECTURES. 

In 1883 the Church founded an Annual Course of 
Lectures. The object of this movement was to pro- 
vide for its own people, at moderate cost, intellectual 
entertainment of the highest character. The initial 
course was supplied by Prof. C. A. Young, known 
throughout the world as an eminent authority on 
astronomy. Prof. Young is seldom tempted to leave 
his great telescope at Princeton College for the lecture 
platform ; but at the invitation of Dr. Deems, who is 
his warm personal friend, he consented to appear six 



1 68 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

nights in the Church of the Strangers on successive 
Tuesday evenings, beginning with January 2, 1883. 
Each lecture was fully illustrated by stereopticon 
views, many of which, together with verbatim re- 
ports of the lectures, were reproduced on the succeed- 
ing mornings by the New York Tribune. At the con- 
clusion of the course the entire series was revised by 
the author himself, and issued in the form of a Tri- 
bune Extra, to take a permanent place with the scien- 
tific literature of the country. 

Course tickets were sold at $2.50 each ; reserved 
seats at $3.00 ; single tickets (reserved), seventy-five 
cents; admission, fifty cents. The popularity of the 
lectures is attested by the fact that the course netted 
the Committee between three and four hundred 
dollars. 

The subjects discussed by Prof. Young were as 
follows : 

1. Celestial Measurements; including an ac- 
count of the Transit of Venus of Dec. 6, 1882. 

2. The SUN; its spots; its peculiarities of heat 
and light, etc., etc. 

3. The Moon and Eclipses ; the moon's influence 
upon tides and storms ; the growth of vegetation ; 
human life, etc. 

4. The Planetary System. 

5. Meteors and Comets. 

6. Fixed Stars and Nebula: why do some stars 
twinkle? the immensity of the universe ; the dimin- 
utive earth. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 169 

Below we give the courses for the succeeding years 
to date. 

ii 

Jan. 9. George Kennan, Our Life in Siberia. 

Jan. 16. Prof. A. A. Starr, WONDERS OF THE MI- 
CROSCOPE. Illustrated. 

Jan. 23. W. J. Marshall, An Evening in Wonder- 
land. Illustrated. 

Jan. 30. Prof. Wm. Libby, Jr., GLACIERS. Illus- 
trated. 

Feb. 6. Charles F. Deems, D.D., Egypt. Illus- 
trated. 

Feb. 13. Phcebus W. Lyon, Travels IN Africa. 

1885. 

Jan. 7. Robert J. Burdette, PILGRIMAGE OF THE 
Funny Man. 

Jan. 14. Helen Potter, Readings and Impersona- 
tions. 

Jan. 21. Geo. Kennan, Vagabond Life in East- 
ern Europe. 

Jan. 28. Rev. E. P. Thwing, Ph.D., Rambles in 
Spain. 

Feb. 4. Prof. D. S. Holman, Motion and Life as 
seen with the Microscope. Illustrated. 

Feb. 11. Wm. I. Marshall, COLORADO. Illustrated. 

1886. 

Jan. 5. Charles F. Deems, D.D., REMINISCENCES 
of Travels in the East. 



170 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

Jan. 12. Rev. John Paul Egbert, Buffalo, N. Y., 
The Upward Struggle of the Spanish People. 

Jan. 19. Howard Henderson, D.D., LL.D., The 
Heresies of the Heart and of History. 

Jan. 26. Mr. M. J. Verdery, Love's Labor Lost. 

Feb. 2. A. H. Bradford, D.D., Montclair, N. J., A 
Jerseyman among the Webfeet. 

1887. 

Jan. 4. Prof. Garrett P. Serviss, How WORLDS ARE 
Made. 

Jan. 11. Dr. W. H. Milburn, What a Blind Man 
Saw in Washington Forty Years Ago. 

Jan. 18. Rev. Dr. Deems, Some People I have 
Met. 

Jan. 25. Frank E. Hippie, Esq., The Law of 
Contracts. 

Feb. 1. Rev. Dr. Deems, Some other People I 
have Met. 

Feb. 8. Rev. Edward M. Deems, Walks IN SCOT- 
LAND. 

In 1887 the Lecture Committee abolished admis- 
sion charges, and advertised a course of free lectures. 
Collections were taken up, however, which in some 
cases about covered the cost of the lectures. With an 
occasional donation by some friend of the cause, the 
free lectures are thus seen to become not only a pos- 
sible, but a probable, feature of the Church. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 171 



THE LIBRARIES. 

Four distinct libraries, with as many different uses, 
are in the Church. One belongs to the Sunday 
School, and is in the chape). Another is a technical 
library belonging to the Pastor, and is in the study. 
The third is a popular library for the use of the 
Church members, and is in the parlor. The time to 
obtain books from this is Friday evening after the 
Prayer Meeting. 

A fourth library has just been begun. Twice a 
year collections are taken for " Religious Literature." 
This fund purchases Bibles, hymn books, etc., for the 
Church, and provides other religious publications for 
distribution. A card is placed on each book request- 
ing the reader to pass it on. The name and address 
of the donor are also stated, with a request that if any 
are benefited a line may be sent to the giver of the 
book. Contributions are solicited to increase the 
number of books thus sent out. 



XVI. 

Minor Miscellanies. 
I. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. 

THIS being a free Church, the collections are its 
only source of revenue. As it is widely adver- 
tised as the " Church of the Strangers," a great 
many people imagine that one of its chief functions is to 
give financial aid to strangers ; and therefore the Pastor 
is besieged by persons from every part of the world, 
who ask for special collections. The " Sisters of the 
Stranger " render material aid to the needy, but no 
collections are ever taken for any of these applicants. 
Frequently, indeed, after some great calamity, like 
the Michigan fires, the Western floods, or the South- 
ern earthquake, "special donations" are received and 
forwarded. The fixed charges and other expenses of 
the Church are such as to require a strict adherence 
to the rule above specified. 

During the year, however, four "special collections" 
are taken. Two of these are devoted to missions, 
and the other two constitute the religious literature 
fund mentioned in a previous chapter. 

2. THE SOCIABLES. 
On the second Wednesday after each communion 
a Sociable is held in the parlors of the church, under 
the auspices of a committee of seven appointed for 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 173 

that service. Entertainment is provided in the form 
of music or elocution. About half the evening is de- 
voted to social intercourse. Seats are arranged in a 
peculiar manner, so as to bring the occupants face to 
face in groups. At the end of each performance it is 
often humorously insisted that the audience shall 
" mix," which means that every person in the room 
is to change his seat. In the course of an evening 
this method brings nearly everybody in contact with 
everybody else. 

The Committee are expected to be early on hand, 
to introduce strangers as they arrive, and provide 
seats for all. They are everywhere present to see 
that no one is neglected, and that the meeting shall 
not drag. The Sociable is not meant to be a mere 
entertainment where people go to hear music and 
criticise dress, but an evening of Christian fellowship. 
In a city like New York, where people do not know 
who lives in the next house, something of this sort 
must be had to keep the Churches from becoming 
literally Churches of Strangers. 

Once a year the Committee provides a strawberry 
festival, to which admission is charged. In this way 
a small fund is often accumulated for benevolent ob- 
jects. Thus the Committee of 1885 retired with fifty- 
five dollars, which they divided between several local 
missions. 

Some of the entertainments given by this Com- 
mittee have been of the highest order. Readers and 
musicians of world-wide reputation have entertained 
the members of this Church. 



174 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

3. THE STORY OF A GLASS DOOR. 

After a season of hard times, which had brought 
extreme poverty to many an humble home, a young 
woman found herself in utter destitution. Since the 
death of her parents, years before, she had managed, 
by incessant industry, to maintain herself until the' 
financial crisis stopped her work, and rendered useless 
all her efforts to find any labor whereby she might earn 
her daily bread. One by one she had parted with 
her garments, until there remained scarcely necessary 
clothing, and at last, in arrears for board, with no means 
of payment, she had been turned into the streets of 
New York, homeless and friendless. All that bleak 
day she had wandered about. Never having asked for 
charity, she knew not where nor how to apply. And 
now night had fallen — Sunday night^-and she had no 
place of shelter. Pinched with cold, faint from hunger, 
footsore and weary, hope died within her. In absolute 
desperation she resolved to put an end to the life which 
seemed to have no promise of good for her, but was 
full of dark threatenings, like the angry sky overhead. 
As she went on through a side street, gaining courage 
at each step for the final plunge which would, she 
thought, end all her-misery,her attention was arrested 
by a bright light shining out on the obscurity. Me- 
chanically moving on toward the light, she at length 
stood before a church whose outer doors were spread 
invitingly open, and whose inner door was of sheet 
glass, so clear that the light from within streamed 
through without obstruction, flooding the pavement, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 175 

and shining far into the darkness beyond. The inci- 
dent was a slight check to the mad impulse that had 
urged her on to self-destruction. The light seemed to 
promise warmth, and she was so cold. Involuntarily 
she stepped into the vestibule and drew near to the 
crystal door, through which she could see a throng of 
men and women who were listening to a voice, whose 
tones reached her ear ; but whose words had no mean- 
ing for her dulled brain. But the voice was earnest 
and kind, and, irresistibly attracted, she slipped noise- 
lessly in and dropped into a seat in a remote corner. 
For a while her great wretchedness prevented any 
comprehension of what the preacher was saying, but 
his voice soothed her, and gradually the tension of 
bitter feeling relaxed, and she listened. 

The preacher told of the wondrous love which led 
the majestic Son of God to leave the brightness and 
glory of the Father's house, and dwell among men. 
She heard how the Divine One suffered from cold 
and hunger, how He was forsaken of friends, and had 
not where to lay His head. How He went about do- 
ing good, and, worn with travel, forgetful of the wants 
of His own humanity, stood with arms outstretched 
to the toiling men and women who gathered about 
Him, pleading, with eyes full of tender, sympathizing 
love, " Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Then the 
preacher went on to tell of the rest that remains for 
the people of God ; he dwelt in tones of rapturous 
faith on the mansions in the Father's house which the 
dear Saviour has gone to prepare for His humble, 



176 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

patient followers; and, as his voice bore the words of 
promise to her heart, the ice which had gathered 
there melted into blessed tears, and new hope sprung 
up and better impulses stirred within her. She 
prayed for strength to struggle on and bear her 
dreary life until in God's good time He should re- 
lease her. When the congregation dispersed, she 
went out again into the cold and darkness, but with 
renewed courage and better resolves. In her agita- 
tion she took no note of the street she was on, and 
knew neither the name of the church nor of its 
Pastor. 

Several months later the girl met with a Christian 
woman, to whom she confided the sad story of her 
former wretchedness and terrible temptation. She 
dwelt on her rescue in words of loving gratitude to 
God, and toward the minister whose voice had in- 
duced her to give attention to the Word of Life. The 
church whose open doors and cheerful light had 
drawn her in and sheltered her until she gathered 
strength to resist the tempter, she had never since 
been able to find. Now she had regular employment 
and was prospering ; she longed earnestly to make a 
thank offering in the sacred edifice which had been 
instrumental in saving her. 

Her new friend heard her story and kindly invited 
her to go with her to hear her Pastor. The invita- 
tion was gladly accepted, and they went together. 
As they entered the vestibule the girl was struck 
with the familiar appearance of a glass door, through 
which the light was pouring. Agitated by the flood 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 177 

of memories which the sight brought up, she took 
her seat just as the preacher rose and commenced 
speaking. At once she recognized the voice, and, 
turning to her companion, she whispered, while 
happy tears coursed down her cheeks, " It is he ! it 
is he ! " 

She was in the Church of the Strangers. The 
preacher was Dr. Deems. It was here she had found 
refuge from the storm of fiercest temptation — his was 
the voice that had called her back from an untimely 
end. At last she had found what she had so long 
sought, and her heart was filled with joy and thank- 
fulness. Through God's great goodness she not only 
had a comfortable home with friends, wherein to rest 
at the close of each day's labor, but now she has a 
Sunday home, where she goes to offer thanksgiving 
and gain spiritual strength. 

The history of the glass door, as it was told to the 
writer of this simple story, is this : Dr. Deems once 
remarked from the pulpit that he wished the entrance 
to his church might be made as attractive as the en- 
trances to the various places of amusement. He could 
see no reason why the house of God should be dark 
and uninviting, while the haunts of Satan were so al- 
luring. He also said that if he had the means he 
would remove the heavy doors which shut in the con- 
gregation and replace them with glass, which would 
allow the light from within to shine out on passers-by. 
Amongst his hearers was Mr. Elisha SnifTen, who in 
the course of the next week waited on the Doctor, and 
generously offered to carry out his wishes. The offer 



178 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

was gratefully accepted, and in a few days the glass 
door replaced the door of wood — with what result in 
one case, several years after, we have tried to show ; 
and if the story induce any one to improve the dark 
and repulsive looking fronts of other churches, it will 
not have been told in vain. 

4. REPAIRS. 

Within the last few years improvements involving 
an outlay of about four thousand dollars have been 
made and paid for, so that the Treasurer, in his last 
Annual Report, was able to say that every known 
financial obligation of the Church had been satisfied 
to date. 

The main edifice was roofed, carpeted, painted, and 
otherwise improved. The Sunday School room and 
the church parlor were also neatly painted. 

The latter is removed from the Greene Street en- 
trance by an ante-room extending across the entire 
width of the building. A partition and door, formerly 
both without windows, separate the parlor from the 
anteroom. An open door and a flickering gas jet 
within were the only objects that hitherto attracted 
the attention of the passer-by. One Sunday morn- 
ing Dr. Deems happened to refer to " The Story of a 
Glass Door," and remarked that he wished a similar 
improvement might be made at the Greene Street en- 
trance of the church. At the close of the service a 
gentleman stepped up to the Pastor and offered a 
check to pay for the desired change. Carpenters were 
at once set at work, and now the open door at 4 Win- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 179 

throp Place no longer reveals merely a blank wall. 
A flood of light pours through a large window, and 
invites the passing stranger to tarry. 



5. A LETTER. 

[On the 6th of January, 1886, the following letter appeared in the 
Christian Advocate, Raleigh,' N. C, edited by Rev. F. L. Reid. 
It was written by a cultivated young lady of North Carolina, 
who was a member of our congregation while she was studying 
art in New York.— J. S. T.J 

" I attended my first service in a New York church 
a few weeks ago, and though this may have often been 
written about, I felt as if a North Carolinian's impres- 
sions might interest, and perhaps do good, by suggest- 
ing some new methods. 

" What church, or society of any kind, can keep 
alive by running in the same old ruts forever ? The 
Pastor of the church in question is alive to his work ; 
his whole soul and body are in it. His chief end and 
aim in life, I think, are to help those who need help, 
and by a perfect system he accomplishes about the 
average work of — how many men shall I say ? 

" He doesn't do all this work in person, but through 
him it is done. He organizes this body, that society, 
begins a library, suggests this or that work to his mem- 
bers, and they carry it on — gives as many as he can 
actual work. I notice, too, that he has congregational 
singing. I never saw a church where so many people 
sung — the children, the young people, and the old. 
The good attention of all is also marked. There is 
perfect quiet and order after the services begin, and 



180 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

all seem interested in what is being said. Well, the 
chief reason of all this is, I think, because he always 
has something to say, and studies to say it in an in- 
teresting and striking way, and tells it as a message 
for each individual present. Do not let me be un- 
derstood now as finding fault with the way we do 
things down South, for I blow the Southern horn 
loudly up here, but I do think that we can put fresh 
spirit and life into some of our churches by adopt- 
ing, as far as practicable, some of their methods. I 
know a church, for example, in which the Pastor, who 
is a Southern man, makes it his duty to conduct every 
prayer meeting, none of the members taking any part 
that I have ever seen, except in the singing — not all 
in this. If the Pastor is called out of town, or is nec- 
essarily absent, which is seldom, the notice is given 
out that there'll be no prayer meeting, when there 
are Christians enough in the Church to carry on a 
dozen prayer meetings. Last Sunday evening I at- 
tended a prayer meeting conducted entirely by the 
young men. They meet at a quarter to seven to 
pray for the Pastor, and a blessing on the night ser- 
vice. Ministers who feel that their congregations are 
cold, and not in sympathy with them, can appreci- 
ate this, and understand what a blessing and help it 
must be to the Pastor. On the evening of which I 
speak, a boy led, who couldn't have been over 
eighteen, but he did what was to be done promptly 
and with ease. There is little time lost in any of 
these meetings, and they always begin at the minute 
appointed, and close at the minute for closing. In 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 181 

New York time is lost neither in business nor re- 
ligion. 

" The leader calls for some one to lead in prayer — 
all bow, and some one rises immediately. This even- 
ing another led ; without being asked individually, he 
offered an earnest prayer that seemed to come right 
from the heart. The minute, almost the second, 
the prayer is over, ' No. 19, please,' or ' No. 40, 
please,' comes from any one in the meeting, and truly 
all sing heartily and cheerfully, so that every one 
feels that he or she takes part, and has a right to take 
part. I think this is what the young people of our 
church need, active work, that they may feel that 
they are doing something, and then they will not al- 
ways be questioning their conversion, wondering if 
they are Christians, and always in doubt because 
they haven't that religious experience they desire. 
It is just at times when we have nothing to do, and 
feel that we are doing no good, that the tempter 
does his work, and makes us miserable. 

" It is all well enough to talk about doing well 
your home duties and attending to your daily busi- 
ness, and that this is Christian work ; so it is — but 
there ought to be church work of some sort for every 
member, so that each member may feel that he has a 
right to say ' my church.' The minister or older 
members may say or preach that they may, can, or 
must do or have such work, and yet not plan defi- 
nitely some work and give it to them to do. You'll 
find that nine churches out of ten have no young 
people's organizations. Young people must be led, 



182 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

they are babes in Christ, and unless fed and cared for 
by those of strength, they will either die in their in- 
fancy, or always be weak and deformed Christians. 
I am not very old, and I know from experience 
whereof I speak, and there is a need for young 
people's work in prayer meetings, Sunday School, 
societies of all sorts, missions, libraries, Y. M. C. A., 
and Y. W. C. A. The latter I never knew in the 
South. It need not be additional work for the Pas- 
tor ; on the contrary it will lift some, yes, a great deal 
of the burden that weighs him down. The simple 
fact of the hearty co-operation of his members 
will lighten his labors and cheer his heart. There 
are connected with the church spoken of, so far as I 
have been able to find out, fifteen organizations — 
some for children, some for the young, and some for 
the old. The meetings of all these the Pastor 
couldn't, of course, and doesn't attend regularly,, 
though he gets around pretty often ; but he has his 
eye, hand, and heart on them all ; knows just what 
they are doing, is always ready to advise, or devise 
some new plan to keep up a warm interest in the 
work. There is nothing, you know, that is so op- 
posed to success, be it in religion, business, or pleas- 
ure, as dull monotony. To prevent this, as much 
diversity as is possible and profitable is brought in 
the services ; for instance, in the Friday night prayer 
meetings there is one night called the ' promise 
night,' in which any one reads from the Bible some 
promise ; one night is devoted to special prayer for 
the Sunday School ; one for the young men ; one to 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 183 

missionary work ; and the one previous to the Sun- 
day on which the Lord's Supper is administered is 
led always by the Pastor, so that he may prepare the 
minds and hearts of his people to rightly receive it. 
In this way the interest of the meetings is kept up, 
and they don't become dead. The last missionary 
prayer meeting was especially interesting. There 
was ' a man of Tarsus ' present, a young man who is 
studying here to go back as a missionary, I suppose. 
He told us of how he had been treated as a young 
minister in his country, how he had been stoned, 
beaten, and driven from their cities, and brought be- 
fore rulers, as was Paul, and like Paul he found His 
grace was sufficient. 

" Of these fifteen organizations mentioned one is the 
Chinese Sunday School, and though we can 't have such 
a school, for the want of Chinamen, yet there are a 
plenty of natives, who are, perhaps, as badly in need of 
missionary work. This meets in the afternoon, and I 
went round to visit the school, just to see how they 
did, and what they did ; but the Superintendent came 
round and said they were in need of teachers, and 
wouldn't I have a class ; and though I didn't show 
any special anxiety for one, he went off and soon came 
back with * my Chinaman.' One constitutes a class 
(and this is sometimes more than you can well man- 
age). Most of these Chinese can read in their own 
language (mine can't), so they have books in which 
the same thing is written in both languages, and in 
this way, while they are pronouncing the English 
words, they can understand their meaning. They 



184 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

seem very anxious to learn, and mine was delighted 
to write his name. They are certainly curious look- 
ing creatures in their careless dress, and to one seeing 
them for the first time they all look alike. Those who 
know them well say they are very quick and intelli- 
gent. At this school's anniversary this week the Chi- 
nese Consul made a short address in his own lan- 
guage, and it was interpreted in good style by his 
attendant. There are many other schools of this 
kind in the city. 

"One scheme of this church, which strikes me as 
especially conducive to drawing the congregation 
nearer together, is what they call their twelve tribes. 
Members are received into the church every month 
of the year — hence, twelve times ; all who join in 
January belong to one tribe, all in February to 
another, and so there are twelve tribes. Each tribe 
has its patriarch and scribe. Each meets annually 
the night after the communion of the month in which 
its members joined, to welcome the new members ; 
it also meets once a year at the residence of the Pas- 
tor, and at other times at the houses of the members. 
Each patriarch looks especially after his tribe, keeps 
their addresses, so as to inform them of any church 
movement, and in this way the whole membership is 
looked after, and each individual feels that he is per- 
sonally remembered. 

"On the first Sundays in June and December they 
have ' Rallying Communion,' when a special effort is 
made to bring out all the membership to communion, 
just before the rest and pleasures of summer vacation, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 185 

and the hard work of winter. The Pastor calls his 
discourse 'A Communion Meditation,' and takes 
some tender topic connected with the Saviour. The 
communion is like a glad family meeting, in which 
their love for their Saviour and for each other is in- 
creased. 

" These are not all the plans of work, but enough to 
show how, by skillful management, a lively interest 
may be kept up throughout the whole church." 

6. THE CHOIR. 

On page 218 reference is made to the devotional 
character of a choir rehearsal which took place in the 
Church parlor. It is proper to state that in this 
Church no one is admitted into the choir who is 
not known to possess good moral character in addi- 
tion to a knowledge of music. Since May, 1872, the 
choir has been in charge of Prof. G. W. Pettit, who 
was also for many years Superintendent of the Sun- 
day School of the Church. It is a select chorus choir, 
and has a reputation for admirable behavior. This is 
due to the strict discipline maintained by the leader. 
The congregational singing of the Church is fre- 
quently admired by strangers. The choir deserves 
the credit for whatever excellence has been attained 
in this direction. The punctuality of all its members 
is as admirable as their reverential demeanor and un- 
selfish devotion to duty. Miss Nellie C. Pettit, Prof. 
Pettit's daughter, presides at the organ with great 
ability, while her father conducts the singing. All 
the music is selected with special reference to its de- 



i86 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



votional purposes, as it is the theory of the leader 
and of the Church that Church music is for worship 
and not for exhibition. 



7. TRUSTEES. 

The following gentlemen at different times, from 
1871 to 1878, served on the Board of Trustees : 



A. T. Briggs. 

F. R. Chambers. 

G. W. Clarke, Ph.D. 
F. M. Deems, M.D. 
C. R. Disosway. 

R. C. Gardner. 

J. Lorimer Graham.* 

J. E. Halsey. 

W. M. Hutson. 

R. H. Johnson. 

C. W. Keep. 

J. J. Little. 

T. E. F. Randolph. 

J. R. Reed. 



J. She? wood. 
N. W. Smith. 
Prof. C. S. Stone. 
6". T. Taylor. 
H. M. Ware. 
Geo. W. Wilson. 
W. J. Woodward. 
D. B. Clark, M.D. 
R. L. Crawford. 
y. E. Hoagland. 
J. Kleckner. 
R. Cottier. 
A. P. Crane. 
J. W. Downing. 



At the Annual Meeting held December 31, 1877, 
the Board was reorganized, and since that time the 
following is the list : 



Elected. 
1877. 



Retired. Elected. 



1878. 



Joseph J. Little 1887 

.Jer. Sherwood J879 

F. A. Crane 1878 

Robert L. Crawford. 

.D. B. Clark, M.D... 1878 

John W. Downing. . 1879 

.A. P.Crane 1S78 

Robert Cottier 1883 

.F. M. Deems, M.D. 1881 

, Samuel A. Swart. ... 1885 

Wm. Mitchell 1879 

.Samuel B. Downes. 



Retired. 



I8J9. 

i860. 
I88l. 
1883. 

1884.' 

1885] 

1886." 



, Charles H. Messer. . . 1880 

. Henry Grasse 1884 

. John Bedford. 1883 

Richard P. Salter... 1883 
Theo. R. Cooke 
Wm. A. McLaughlin 1885 
.George H. Clayton. 
Owen O. Schimmel 
Jas. E. Downes. . . 



W 



D. Swart, 



Geo. W. Olivit... 
.Wm. S. Witham. 



Names of deceased persons printed in italics. 






A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



187 



8. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

The following is a complete list of the names of 
gentlemen who have been members of the Advisory 
Council : 



Appointed. Retired. 

1870. .Norman W. Smith. . 1871 

" . .Wm. M. Hutson 1871 

" . .J. B. Birmingham.. . 1871 
" . .G. W. Clarke, Ph.D. 

14 . . J. Sherzuood. 1874 

" . .S. T. Taylor. 1874 

u . .Wm. J. Woodward.. 1873 

1871 . . y E. Hoagland 1872 

" ..T. E. F. Randolph.. 1877 
" ..H. W. McDonnell. . 1877 

1872.. J. N. Daggett 1873 

1873. .F. R. Chambers 1877 

,: ..W. E. Sheldon 1877 

1874. .Jacob R. Reed 



nted. 



Retired. 



Appoi 

1874. John King 1876 

1876. .George Taylor 1884 

1877. .George W. Wilson.. 1879 
" ..Wm. H. Conklin.... 1885 
" ..George W.Olivit.... 1885 
" .. Samuel A. Swart 1889 

1879.. J. H. Fletcher 1882 

" ..W.A. McLaughlin.. 1881 

i88i..John R. Pope 

1882. .Robert Cottier 

1884. .Frederic Wheeler.. . 1886 

1885. .Wm. H. Robertson.. 
" . .John Forsyth 

1886.. Eli A. Race 



XVII. 

Reception of the Pastor on His Return from the East. 

ON the 30th of December, 1879, R- ev - Dr. 
Deems, the Pastor of the Church of the 
Strangers, left the city of New York, in the 
steamship Germanic, to make a tour in the East. 
This was done at the unanimous recommendation of 
the officers of the Church, with, it is believed, the 
cordial indorsement of all the members. 

To build up such an institution as the Church of 
the Strangers, it will readily be perceived, required 
great care, caution, skill, and labor. From the sec- 
ond Sunday in July, 1866, until now the Sunday ser- 
vice has never been suspended, except twice for 
repairs. This, together with extraordinary pastoral 
work devolved on the Doctor by the fact that every- 
thing had to be done from the beginning, and by the 
other fact that the very name of the Church increased 
the number of those who felt that they had claims 
upon him, had been a severe tax. The marvel is 
that his health did not break down under it ; instead, 
he had been out of his pulpit because of sickness only 
one Sunday in thirteen years and a half. But, look- 
ing to the future, he and the officers of the Church 
concluded that all parties would receive benefit by a 
total cessation, for a season, of pastoral anxiety. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 189 

It so happened that the Pastor's son, Rev. Edward 
M. Deems, now Pastor of the Westminster Presby- 
terian Church in the city of New York, had recently 
returned from Europe, and, being without a charge, 
was induced to take the pastorate of the Church dur- 
ing his father's absence. We had known him from 
his boyhood ; he had gone from our Church into the 
Christian ministry ; we could trust him ; and so with 
his father's consent he was called. How faithfully 
and successfully he discharged his duties is set forth 
elsewhere. He was ably aided in the pulpit by Rev. 
Drs. John Hall, Patton, Bevan, Northrop, McArthur, 
J. H. Vincent, Spenser, and Rev. Messrs. McCowan, 
Williamson, Rossiter, Ledwith, and Sanders. 

Notwithstanding all the success which the Lord 
granted us in the absence of the Pastor, we felt glad 
when the time of his return arrived. The Monthly 
Meeting, which is the governing body of the Church, 
appointed the following persons as a Committee of 
Reception : 

J. J. Little, R. L. Crawford, Geo. Taylor, Prof. G. 
W. Pettit, J. H. Fletcher, T. E. F. Randolph, Hon. 
Geo. W. Clarke, T. H. Cooke ; Mrs. F. A. Vanderbilt, 
Mrs. E. Lonsdale, Mrs. S. K. Hunt, Mrs. W. A. Mc- 
Laughlin, Mrs. A. E. Pope, Miss C. Sturtevant, Miss 
M. St. John. 

It was ascertained that the Celtic, of the White 
Star line, in which the Pastor was to sail, would leave 
Liverpool on Thursday, the 17th of June, and would 
probably reach New York on Sunday, the 27th. 
Early that morning it was telegraphed that the 



i 9 o A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

steamer was approaching. At half-past seven A.M. 
Dr. Deems was received at the pier by members of 
the Committee of Reception, accompanied by the 
Pastor's sons. It was arranged that his congregation 
should allow him two days of entire rest with his family. 

On Tuesday evening, the 29th, a reception was 
given him. The church and chapel were thrown 
open. The wall behind the pulpit had been re- 
painted and ornamented with appropriate inscrip- 
tions through the liberality and good taste of Mrs. 
F. A. Vanderbilt. It had been known that, as 
he left it, that particular part of the building had 
been offensive to the Pastor's eyes. To give him a 
pleasant surprise, he and his family were conducted 
to the front of the church and first shown this im- 
provement, with which he expressed his entire satis- 
faction and great delight. 

The Committee then escorted the Pastor to the 
chapel, which was crowded to its utmost capacity. 
Here he was received with cheers. Over the raised 
platform in the east of the chapel the ladies had the 
words " Welcome Home " illumined by gas jets. T. 
E. F. Randolph, Esq., the President of the Monthly 
Meeting, presided, and opened the proceedings by a 
few appropriate remarks, and called on Prof. George 
W. Pettit to lead the congregation in singing 
" Home, Sweet Home." A very tender prayer, full 
of thanksgiving, was then offered by George Taylor, 
Esq., of the Advisory Council. 

The Pastor was next welcomed in a speech by the 
President of the Board of Trustees. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 191 

ADDRESS BY JOSEPH J. LITTLE, ESQ. 

*' My dear Pastor, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle- 
men : 

" We meet together to-night under very pleasant 
auspices, to greet our Pastor after his long absence, 
to shake him by the hand, and to feel his friendly 
clasp in return. We meet to speak to each other 
words of affection, to renew our mutual pledges of 
personal friendship, and show our devotion to the 
Church of the Strangers. 

4 ' Indeed, I feel, dear Pastor, that we have occasion 
for mutual congratulations and joyfulness that so many 
of us are able to meet you again in health in this 
place, and, while appreciating the privilege of being 
permitted to say to you a few words of formal wel- 
come, I regret for your sake that it has not fallen upon 
a more experienced person, one who could more fully 
express to you our feelings upon this occasion. While 
we had no doubt that it would give pleasure to many 
of your brother ministers to accept an invitation to 
be present and lend to the occasion their eloquence, 
we preferred to make it a strictly Church reunion, be- 
lieving that that would be most agreeable to your own 
feelings. For my part, I shall trust to your tried friend- 
ship to supply what, from lack of experience, I may 
omit to say, being assured that our feelings of friend- 
ship and of brotherly and sisterly affection can be but 
feebly expressed by anything that maybe said by me. 

" I well remember that in uttering our farewells to 
you, one of our brethren said, ' We are glad to see you 



i 9 2 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

go.' Although that was spoken in jest, it was no 
doubtful compliment. We were all glad to see you 
go ; not that we desired your absence ; not but that 
many a misgiving arose in our minds as to the dangers 
attending your long journey ; not that we were with- 
out apprehension as to the effects of that long absence 
upon our Church — the Church which is so dear to us 
all : but we were glad because you felt your future use- 
fulness depended upon a total rest and change of 
scene, and we were willing to make personal sacrifices 
rather than endanger that. 

" But, sir, if for those reasons we were glad to see 
you go, we are now doubly glad to welcome you 
back, and to receive from you the assurances that the 
trip has not been in vain ; that the object sought has 
been attained ; that you feel renewed in strength and 
better fitted for the work before you. It gives me 
great pleasure to assure you of the love and unity 
that have existed among us during your absence. 
This absence fully demonstrates to our minds that 
the existence of the Church of the Strangers as an 
unsectarian Christian Church is no longer an experi- 
ment. Notwithstanding the doubts and fears of 
many as to the possibility of establishing and main- 
taining such a Church, to be supported as a free 
Church, and especially in this section of the city, it 
was established, and with you here it was maintained 
for twelve years, and now, sir, its members have 
maintained it for six months in your absence. 

" When you shook our hands upon your departure, 
you left us united in fraternal love and free from the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 193 

burden of debt. We now, sir, again submit the 
Church to your care, united in the same bonds of 
love, and also free from the burden of debt. During 
all your absence no meetings of the Church, of the 
Sunday School, or of any of the boards of officers 
have been omitted. Every Sunday service has been 
regularly held. No Communion service has passed 
without adding members to our numbers. Our 
finances have not been kept up by special collections 
in the Church, nor by solicitations of money outside ; 
but upon your departure the Board of Finance, in a 
circular letter, addressed only to the members of the 
Church, stated what, in their judgment, would be 
necessary to make up for our increased expenses, and 
probable decreased Sunday collections ; and the only 
strife that has existed in our midst during the past 
six months has been a fraternal strife of members to 
bear each his proper, full, and equitable portion of 
the burden. The result has been that all obligations 
have been regularly and promptly discharged, and 
the Church treasury has never been entirely empty. 

" Although, sir, we do not wish to cast a shadow 
upon this pleasant reunion, this short account of the 
Church would not be complete should I omit to say 
that death has entered our midst, to remind us of the 
frailty of human life. Hands that once you clasped 
you will clasp no more on earth ; but we have the 
blessed consolation of believing that those who have 
been called away from earth's busy scenes, went in 
the full hope of the glory of the resurrection. 

" Neither are we unmindful that there are other ties 



194 A ROMANCE OP PROVIDENCE. 

now to be broken, ties that have been formed with him 
you left with us as Pastor while you were away. But 
of that another is to speak, and, as I know all are 
anxious to hear your voice, I will now, on behalf of 
every one present, as well as those who are necessarily 
absent, but whose hearts we know are here, salute you 
in the words which the ladies of the Committee have 
so beautifully illumined, * Welcome Home.' May you 
be spared for many years of usefulness in the vineyard 
of the Master, and may the love now existing between 
you and your flock never perish, either in this world 
or beyond the grave — is not only the prayer of him 
who now speaks to you, but also the universal wish of 
the Church. 

" It gives me very great pleasure to present to you, 
on behalf of many of your friends, whose names are in- 
closed, this testimonial as a token of their fraternal 
love. [Here he presented the Pastor a purse con- 
taining a handsome sum of money.] It is not given 
so much on account of its intrinsic worth or pecuniary 
value, as to more fully indicate that at this time 
we renew our pledges of personal friendship, and 
our devotion to the cause represented by this 
Church. 

REPLY BY REV. DR. DEEMS. 

" Mr. Chairman, my dear Brother Little, Sisters and 

Brethren : 

" I am taken at a delightful disadvantage by this 

display of kindness on the part of the officers and 

members of our beloved Church. No hint had been 






A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 195 

given me that I should be expected to say or do any- 
thing to-night beyond grasping again the warm hands 
which dropped from mine on that cold December 
night when we parted. 

" There has been a little mysteriousness about 
movements since my arrival. Our steamer reached 
the pier at seven o'clock last Sunday morning, and I 
was met by a Committee of Church officers, who con- 
ducted me to my home. A thorough rest of ten days, 
during an exceptionally tranquil voyage, had set me 
up, and I told them that I should be at Church. 
They exchanged glances of distress, and undertook 
to tell me that I was too tired ! and to advise me to 
remain with my family ! ! Of course, I expected to 
' remain with my family' ; but couldn't I just as well 
remain with them in Church? The friendly officers 
did not take into account the rare pleasure it is for a 
Pastor to sit in a pew, in a pew beside his wife ; nor 
did they seem to think that naturally, as a Christian, 
I longed to hear the Gospel, and, as a Pastor, longed 
to see my own church sanctuary. But you know 
what an obedient Pastor I have always been ! and so 
I succumbed ! This evening I learned what it meant. 
When you met me at the church door, and under the 
lights there was displayed to me the newly and 
beautifully ornamented apse, with the appropriate 
inscription and decorations with which it was 
adorned, I saw that you were kindly keeping this 
as a surprise, to increase the delights which you 
are heaping upon my reception. 

" And now, in this crowded chapel, you have spoken, 



j 9 6 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

by the lips of the President of your Board of Trustees, 
such manly, kind, and Christian words of greeting as 
go to my very heart, and awaken a most cordial re- 
sponse of reciprocation. 

" As to the long tour which I have accomplished, I 
shall have other occasions on which to address you. 
But one thing you will be glad to know, and that 
is, that I have spent six months of total freedom 
from the cares which for over thirteen years have 
pressed upon my spirit. It is my good fortune to 
have the happy faculty of being altogether in the 
place where I am ; so, when I went away, I left en- 
tirely. For my Church, for my family, for all with 
whom I was connected, I made the most complete 
arrangements within my power. I knew the officers 
of the Church. I knew you. I knew my son, whom 
you had called to be your temporary Pastor. I knew 
the Great Head of the Church. I knew that I could 
do nothing more for you before my return, and that 
if I suffered myself to be fretted by solicitude, the 
whole intent of my separation from all I most loved 
would be defeated. 

" My friends, if I had gone pleasure-seeking, if I 
had become tired of my work and disgusted with 
the Christian ministry, if I had fled, like Jonah, from 
some divinely imposed but disagreeable mission, I 
could not have had this freedom from care. But 
knowing in the depths of my heart, that my tour was 
undertaken in the interests of this Church, and for 
the increase of the usefulness of my future ministry, I 
had no misgivings and no anxiety. Does not this 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 197 

Church belong to the Lord ? Do not I belong to the 
Lord ? Will He not care for His own as much when 
we are separated as when we are together ? I had 
served the Church thirteen years. The first eight 
years and five months were without a Sunday of va- 
cation. A few weeks, two or three times, in the 
latter years had been spent out of the city. Such 
continuance in labor in the same sphere, such fre- 
quency of preaching in the same pulpit, summer and 
winter, was calculated to beget sameness and dullness 
and running in ruts. It seemed to me necessary 
for my mental health that I should have a total 
change of scene. So I went into a desert place 
apart. 

" If the first motion to go was personal, I should 
have been exceedingly obtuse not to have soon seen 
that our Lord had designs concerning you and the 
Church of the Strangers in this temporary separation. 
Our history is peculiar. Your Pastor was not ' called,' 
as his brethren have been, to the pastorate of an 
organized Church. You have gathered around me, 
and the providence of God has raised you up an in- 
dependent Christian body, an ecclesiasticized Evan- 
gelical Alliance, to represent the charities and unities 
of Protestant Christianity. From time to time it has 
been predicted that the experiment would be a fail- 
ure. We are far down town. There is no other church 
building in this city in so obscure a place as this. No 
street cars nor omnibuses pass in front of us. We 
are on the last block of a street which is not long and 
is occupied by business houses. We are not even on 



198 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

a corner. Such is now the position of our beautiful 
church, which, when it was erected, was the cathedral 
of Presbyterianism in America. You must come in 
front of it to see it. 

" Now, whether such an organized Christian society 
as ours, unconnected with any of the sects, could sus- 
tain itself down town is a question which has exer- 
cised many persons. For myself, it does not seem a 
matter of paramount importance. If the Lord has no 
need of this Church, I am sure that I have not ; if He 
has, He will take care of His own. But very often it 
was not only insinuated but asserted that this Church 
was kept alive by the exertions of the Pastor, and 
sometimes that has been put forth as a compliment 
to me. We have tested that question. I have not 
written you a line of direction or advice about the 
economies of the Church during my absence, and 
under God you have carried the Church along quite 
as well as I have ever been able to do. So, in the 
future, I shall be relieved of any anxiety on that sub- 
ject, and also from similar prophecies. 

" If I have had no anxiety about the Church, dear 
friends, I have not suspended my affection for you. 
My eyes have been running over this crowded chapel 
to-night, and their report is that there are no faces 
present, except those of strangers, which I have not 
seen with the eyes of my heart, while riding Egyptian 
donkeys, Arabian camels, or Syrian horses — faces that 
have risen up before me as I have gazed on the skies 
which hang over the lands made holy by the residence 
of prophets and apostles and of the Son of God. Now, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



99 



my happiness is to see those faces once more ' in the 
flesh.' 

" I have no promises to make. I have formed no 
new resolutions. But I trust that all that I have seen in 
distant lands, and all my experiences may come out in 
my future ministry, so as to be profitable to us all. 
My heart is filled with delight at your unity and co- 
operation, your faith and zeal, your hope and charity. 
Some have left us and gone up to other mansions of the 
Father's house. You will follow them. When the hour 
of your departure comes, may you find on that other 
shore, as I found on landing, friends to cluster lovingly 
about you, and amid the illumination of the Upper 
Temple see glowing with the light of love for you the 
words which you have emblazoned above my head, 
' Welcome Home.' 

14 Mr. Chairman, my dear brother who has ad- 
dressed me, dear brothers and sisters all, I thank you 
from my heart of hearts for your warm and generous 
acts and words. You know how I feel better than I 
can tell you." 

The chairman then called upon Dr. Clarke to ex- 
press the sentiments of the Church toward the tem- 
porary Pastor. 

ADDRESS BY HON. GEORGE W. CLARKE TO REV. ED- 
WARD M. DEEMS. 

"Respected Sir : I am instructed by the Recep- 
tion Committee to make to you on this occasion a 
presentation of the regards of the Church of the 
Strangers. 



2oo A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

" I need not tell you that this is a very agreeable 
duty for me to perform toward one who has been to 
me both pupil* and Pastor. I watched with deep in- 
terest your progress through college and the theologi- 
cal seminary, as I have also the labors of your minis- 
try; and now I have the honor of tendering you 
the greetings of the good people of this Church, 
who have for six months enjoyed your pastoral 
care. 

" I am aware that the offer of this service to you by 
our unanimous choice was a surprise, both to yourself 
and your beloved father. But, to the delight of us 
all, it was finally accepted, and you entered on this 
half year's ministry in a spirit of Christian manhood 
that won all our hearts ; telling us frankly in the outset 
that you assumed the work of your father in his ab- 
sence at our earnest request, not for the purpose of 
holding together the congregation of the Church of the 
Strangers, but, by the blessing of God, with the view 
of building up His people and saving souls. 

" It was a great responsibility — and, no doubt, you 
said to yourself, as young Solomon did when called to 
take the place of his father, ' I am but a little child, I 
know not how to go out or come in. Give thy ser- 
vant therefore, O Lord, an understanding heart, that 
he may discern the path of duty toward this Thy 
people.' As in the case of the young king God gave 
him more than he asked, so in yours He has enabled 

* Dr. Clarke was for years the Principal of Mt. Washington 
Collegiate Institute, in which Rev. Edward M. Deems had been a 
pupil. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 201 

you to care for His people here, and keep the con- 
gregation together besides. 

u We can, therefore, assure you in all truthfulness 
that you have not hid your talents in a napkin, but 
are able to return them unto your Lord with usury. 

" Henceforth, reverend and dear sir, your relations 
to your father will be greatly enlarged — you will still 
be his son, but you will also be his Christian brother 
and friend in the ministry of the Word * 

u Saved from the perils of sea and land, he comes 
back with renewed strength, as we hope, to minister 
again to the people of his love, and you go to your 
already chosen field. The Lord go with you, as will 
also the prayers of this people. 

" And now, in the name of the officers and members 
of the Church of the Strangers and its congregation, 
I present you this testimonial of their good will, with 
the qualifying remark, that whatever may be its pe- 
cuniary value, it must not be regarded by you as rep- 
resenting the full measure of esteem and affection in 
which you are held by us all." 

This address was accompanied by a purse of money. 

REV. EDWARD M. DEEMS'S RESPONSE. 

"Mr. President, and Friends of the Church of the 
Strangers : 
" In calling upon me to make the last address on 
this delightful occasion, I perceive that your Com- 
mittee have done exactly what I feared they would ; 

* Alluding to the fact that the Rev. E. M. Deems had become 
Pastor of the Westminster Church in New York. 



2 02 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

they have first served you generously with ice-cream 
and strawberries and other delicious viands, and then 
made the exacting demand of you that you should 
finish your repast with roast beef and potatoes, the 
very commonest substantiate. The only way of es- 
cape open to me is through brevity. 

" The period of six months which I have just spent 
as temporary Pastor of the Church of the Strangers 
marks an epoch in my life. It has been a season of hap- 
piness for me, not only because I have formed so many 
delightful friendships among this people, but also be- 
cause I have been conscious of having tried to serve my 
Master with a zeal and energy surpassing anything of 
the kind in the past of my career. The earth gives to 
the sky her moisture, only to find it quickly coming 
back to her to reward her with the grateful showers 
which cause her grass, and grain, and flowers to spring 
up and bud, and blossom, and bloom. Just so the 
labors which I have given to God for you in the past 
six months, have returned upon my head rich with 
blessings from above. 

" I do most humbly trust that this night finds me 
not only a happier but also a stronger man in every 
way than I was six months ago, when I tremblingly 
took upon me the temporary pastorate of your 
Church. So it has been a profitable season with me. 
In conducting the executive part of the work of the 
Pastor of such a Church as this, and in giving to a 
people who deserved and could appreciate it the best 
that my mental storehouse could furnish, I have had 
an intellectual discipline which must prove a help to 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 203 

me throughout all my future ministry. But I thank 
God that the profits which I have derived from my 
labors in this Church have not been merely intel- 
lectual. I have, I trust, grown in grace and become 
a better man for all my labors for and with you. The 
communion which I have had with you in the home- 
circle, in the Prayer Meeting, and in the house of the 
Lord, has been so true and so sweet that to-night I 
feel nearer to God than I have ever been before. 

" You have already had your attention directed to 
the fact that the Church of the Strangers has most 
successfully stood the strain which the Pastor's six 
months' absence has put upon it. Who is to have the 
honor of this success ? The Lord God, our Heavenly 
Father. Had He withdrawn His presence from us, we 
should have soon been wrecked. But He did not do 
so. The Lord of Hosts has been with us, and as to- 
night we contemplate with satisfaction the happy con- 
dition of this Church upon the return of its Pastor, 
let us all unite in saying from our hearts, Let glory 
be given ' not unto us, O Lord ! not unto us, but 
unto Thy name ! ' " 

" And yet I feel that I ought to add that while,/r/- 
marily, the successful conduct of the affairs of the 
Church of the Strangers during the Pastor's absence 
has been due to the presence and blessing of God, the 
instrumentality used has been the people of the Church. 
In the days of Nehemiah it was because ' the people 
had a mind to work ' that the wall of the city of the 
great king was built up successfully. So the fact that 
the Pastor returns to find the Church in so good a con- 



2o 4 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

dition, is due to the fact that the people have each and 
all wrought faithfully, and as in the sight of the Great 
Head of the Church. 

"And now let me give to the Church of the 
Strangers a slight expression of gratitude, which is 
too deep to be fully told to you. You have stood by 
me to a man ; officers, choir, Sunday School, mem- 
bers of the Church, and members of the congregation. 
You might have kept me for six months on a mental 
rack, and broken my heart by needlessly laying 
upon me burdens which you have borne in silence, 
by coldness in spiritual things, or by neglect in at- 
tending upon the services of the sanctuary, or by dis- 
sension among yourselves, or by some such thing; 
but so far from doing this, you have prayed for me 
and labored for and with me. I thank you. May 
God richly reward you for all your goodness to me. 

" Dr. Clarke, you spoke truly when you said in your 
address, that I should henceforth stand in a new rela- 
tion to my father. I certainly shall. I shall sympa- 
thize with him as never in the past. I thought be- 
fore he left us that I appreciated in a great measure the 
trying nature of his position as Pastor of this Church. 
But I have discovered that I have had but a faint 
conception of the burden which he has been bearing 
for these long years. * From the name and nature of 
this Church its Pastor comes to have probably the most 
trying parish in our land, and perhaps in any land. I 
need not undertake to tell you how this comes about. 
But take my word for it, if there is a man in this world 
who needs your prayers, your sympathy, your help, 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



205 



your charity and consideration, it is this man, my 
good father, your faithful Pastor. Sustain and cheer 
him in every possible way, and may he and you, as 
Pastor and people, long continue to be in the future 
what you have been in the past, a benediction to this 
great city, to this great country, and to humanity ! 
Farewell." 

At the conclusion of the speeches, the Pastor was 
conducted to the church parlor, which had been 
tastefully decorated by the ladies, and all present 
had an opportunity of greeting him personally. 
After refreshments had been served, the remainder 
of the evening was spent in social enjoyment. 

On the following Sunday the Church was beauti- 
fully ornamented with flowers, and there was one of 
the largest gatherings for the Holy Communion ever 
assembled in that building. 



XVIII. 

"How" and "Why." 

PREFATORY. 

MUCH of what is written in the preceding pages 
might be called a history of the structure — 
anatomy — of the Church of the Strangers. 
Of equal importance is the question of function — the 
physiology of the organization. In the hope of illus- 
trating this by looking through the eyes and think- 
ing and feeling through the brains and hearts of 
others, the Editor addressed to various members of 
the Church the following formula : 

" Please write out an account of how and why you 
came to join the Church of the Strangers. Make it as 
long or as short as you please, and write in a familiar 
style. No names will be published." 

The replies found below fully justify every expecta- 
tion entertained of them. They convey an idea of the 
Church's influence by describing the effect of that in- 
fluence upon those who were swayed by it. It is a 
method of studying cause by investigating effect. As 
these are but fair samples, selected at random, they 
constitute, let us hope, the Church's sufficient raison 
d'etre.—}. S. T 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 207 

FROM A JEWELER. 

" I was brought up in the Church of England, but 
before reaching manhood, had turned my back upon 
religion. First in London and afterwards in the country, 
I led a life far removed from the teachings of Christi- 
anity. That I did not plunge into ruin deeper even 
than I did, is due, I firmly believe, to the restraining 
hand of God. 

" After I married I led a l moral ' life, because my 
love of wife and home made it easy to do so. My 
early training now prompted me to go to Church on 
Sundays ; and happening into the Church of the 
Strangers, I was impressed by the simple, earnest 
preaching I heard there, and soon became a pretty 
regular attendant. Sometimes, upon hearing the 
preacher speak of the love of Jesus and the necessity 
of accepting His salvation, I would almost resolve to 
do it, but always put it off again, and the impression 
passed away. But yet conviction deepened. I am 
not impressionable. I know some are converted in- 
stantaneously ; others it takes years. I was of the latter 
class. 

" At last my little baby girl became ill ; it turned 
out to be diphtheria — and baby died. Now, a parent 
will understand how I loved my little one. And as 
she lay there in her childish beauty, I began to ask, 
i Shall I see her again ? ' 

" At length I resolved to accept the mercy of God 
through Jesus Christ. I cannot tell the precise mo- 
ment when I was converted, but I felt sure of salvation 



X 



2o8 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

by faith in Jesus. I turned away from my old ways 
and companions, began to go to Prayer Meeting, and 
every night with my wife read the Scriptures and 
prayed. 

" Still I shrank from joining the Church ; thought 
I could be as good a Christian out of the Church as in 
it. About one year after my baby had died I became 
ill with a serious attack of laryngitis, which it was 
thought at one time would prove fatal. One day I 
was in a sort of trance. I seemed, to be gone to 
heaven, and as I entered there I was asked the ques- 
tion : ' To which division of the Lord's army did you 
belong?' 

" I could not answer. I had joined no Church. But 
I resolved, if the Lord would spare my life, to join the 
Church of the Strangers at the earliest possible oppor- 
tunity, on confession. This I did. And although I 
fear I am but a poor specimen of a Christian, I have 
never regretted the step. 

" I may add that I liked the Church of the 
Strangers — 

" I. On account of its simple service ; 
. " 2. Because Dr. Deems preached Jesus Christ 
without an ' ism ' ; 

u 3. Because I loved the singing of the orphan 
children." 

FROM A PROFESSIONAL MAN. 

" I united with the Church on account of its broad 
Christian principles, and the welcome to strangers 
which it originated." 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 209 



FROM A YOUNG MAN IN BUSINESS. 

14 In 1 88 1 Dr. Deems preached a sermon on the fol- 
lowing text, taken from Gen. xxxix. 9 : How then can 
I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? My 
mother heard the sermon and repeated it to me when 
she came home from Church. I did not pay much at- 
tention to it then, as I was not a Christian. But one 
night, about five months later, the words came to me 
with such power, I could no longer resist giving my 
heart to God. And as Dr. Deems and my mother 
had sowed the seed that thus took root, I of course 
joined the Church of which they were members. This 
answers the How of your inquiry. 

" I united with the Church to promote the glory of 
Christ, and to advance His kingdom. I believe it is 
the Christian's duty to belong to some branch of the 
Christian Church. This is the Why." 

FROM A WIDOW. 

" I was brought up, I might almost say, in the Madi- 
son Square Presbyterian Church, which was formerly 
the old Broome Street Church. Rev. Dr. Adams 
had been my Pastor from as far back as I can remem- 
ber. When he died the pew rents in my Church had 
become so high that I could not afford longer to hold 
two sittings, so I began to look around among other 
Churches, to see if I could be suited as to the preach- 
ing and the pew rents. It fell in my way to visit the 
Church of the Strangers, which I did one Sunday 
morning. But the Church was so crowded that I was 



210 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

obliged to sit on a camp stool in one of the aisles. 
Whether from my uncomfortable surroundings, or a 
spell of fidgets, I went away with the impression that 
I should not care to go back. 

" Some time after, a lady of the Church suggested 
to me that a second visit might make a different im- 
pression upon me. I yielded to her wishes, and went 
once more to hear Dr. Deems. This time I had a 
good seat in the body of the Church — and cried all 
through the sermon ! The case was -soon decided. I 
joined the Church of the Strangers. 

" 1 do not suppose that any child was ever more 
strictly brought up than I was. The welts on my back 
rise up yet and accuse the mistaken piety that in- 
flicted them ! In our house the rod was part of the 
mantel furniture. Every day of my life I was obliged 
to read two chapters out of the Old Testament, and 
one out of the New. That took me through in a 
year. When it came dinner time I would hear, 
' Well, Miss, have . you read your chapters ? ' If I 
had not finished them, I could have no dinner. In 
this way I began to dislike the Bible, and with all my 
reading I got no instruction. 

" Dr. Deems undid this early error. It is he that 
has taught me to pray, to read the Bible, to love my 
fellow-creatures. I never open the Bible now but I 
see something new." 

FROM A YOUNG SCOTCHMAN. 

"My principal reason for joining the Church of the 
Strangers, was the fact that it is undenominational. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 211 

I attended some time before I became a member. 
Conviction told me that inside, not outside, of the 
Church was the proper place for me." 

FROM A YOUNG MAN. 

" Replying to the question as to why I came to the 
Church of the Strangers, I have only to say that I 
went first to the Church on the recommendation of a 
friend who wished me to hear Dr. Deems preach. I 
was not then a member of any Church, but from a 
sermon I heard I was convinced of my duty to join 
some Christian body ; and in making a selection, if 
one thing more than another influenced me, outside 
of the personality of the Pastor, which I think is 
always one of the first considerations, it was the un- 
sectarian principle on which the Church is founded." 

FROM THE FATHER OF THE ABOVE. 

" In answer to your inquiry as to how and why I 
came to join the Church of the Strangers, I offer the 
following reasons: 

" I. I liked the preaching; 

" 2. It was convenient to my house; 

" 3. It is unsectarian; 

" 4. It is not rich and fashionable." 

FROM A WIDOW. 

" It was the home feeling which pervades our 
Church that first attracted me. I came from a dear 
New England Church, to which from childhood I had 
been devoted. At last I found mvself a stranger in 



212 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

this vast metropolis, wandering for a year in search of 
a spiritual Home. By accident (if such there be in 
our guided lives) I came into a Friday-night Prayer 
Meeting conducted by the Pastor of this Church. 
The search was ended and the choice made. And 
when, on a Monday evening soon after, myself and 
daughter presented ourselves as candidates for admis- 
sion to the Church of the Strangers, and Dr. Deems 
said to me, ' And what led you and your daughter to 
come to us?' I could truly say: ' The fact, sir, that 
we have found a Home ! ' " 

FROM A TRUSTEE. 

" Some fifteen years ago my wife and I, then unac- 
quainted in the city, started out from West Third 
Street to find the residence of a Lutheran minister 
who lived in East Seventh Street. Supposing that 
all streets in that part crossed the city in straight 
lines, we counted from West Third and concluded 
Clinton Place must be Seventh Street. Accordingly 
we started on that thoroughfare to find the house of 
the Lutheran Pastor. When we had crossed Fifth 
Avenue, we found a crowd of people on the sidewalk 
going in the same direction we were going ; and when 
they got to Mercer Street they all turned to the right. 
We concluded to follow this crowd. We were led 
into a Church; opening one of the hymn-books which 
I found in the pew, I discovered that we were in the 
1 Church of the Strangers.' I said at once, ' Why, 
this is the Church for us: we are strangers.' 

" We never found the Lutheran Minister. I have 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 213 

been a regular attendant of the Church from that day 
to this." 

FROM A BUSINESS MAN. 

" Some time in 1867 or '68 I first heard Dr. Deems 
preach in the Hedding M. E. Church, East 17th St. 
I was so much pleased with him that I determined to 
attend whatever Church he might be called to in this 
city. 

"A few months after my marriage (May, 1870) I 
learned from the newspapers that he had located in 
our present quarters, and I have been attending ever 
since." 

FROM AN ARTIST. 

" I was taught in early childhood to believe in God 
and His only begotten Son our Redeemer; but I did 
not join any Church for many years. I came to New 
York in 1870. Coming down University Place one 
Sunday morning, my attention was attracted by a 
placard reading, ' Church of the Strangers,' at the en- 
trance to the University building. That appeal 
made me think. I was a ' stranger ; ' and I concluded 
this must be my Church. I stepped inside and heard 
Dr. Deems for the first time. I have not yet recovered 
from the powerful effects of that sermon." 

FROM A PUBLISHER. 

" My father was an English clergyman ; one of the 
best and most amiable of men. I should have had 
every advantage in youth, if I had not come under 
the pernicious influence of my step-mother. She was 



214 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

a ' professed ' Christian and a talented woman, but 
possessed the kind of character to impress a youth 
with the idea that there is such a thing as hypocrisy 
in the world, and at any rate, that not all ' Christians' 
are lovable beings. I kept pretty straight, and saw 
little of any kind of vice before my twenty-second 
year. I then met with the great disappointment of 
my life ; but, after a few weeks of melancholy, de- 
termined to throw off all that, and as I could not 
have the best thing in life, to have what I foolishly 
thought the next best. And having at that time ex- 
cellent health, I entered into all kinds of gayety and 
self-gratification with avidity. I cannot say I was 
really happy ; but yet I cannot understand how I en- 
joyed life as much as I did, while I saw I was griev- 
ing my best friends and had deliberately turned my 
back upon the God I had been taught to love as well 
as reverence. / never could be a hypocrite. This, with 
perhaps the fact that I always shrank from leading 
others, male or female, from the path of virtue, is all 
I can say in my own favor. Rather wishing to escape 
from friends whom I was only distressing, I came to 
this country and lived for some years a most reckless 
life, seeking only to gratify the senses, without any 
regard for the future in this life or the next. 

" During this time I was always making a good liv- 
ing; in fact, was respected in business, though known 
to be living a fast life. At my father's death I re- 
ceived a few thousand dollars. It was the loss of 
this — and other troubles — that seemed to lead me — 
like another prodigal — to come to myself. I com- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 215 

menced attending Church pretty regularly and joined 
the Y. M. C. A. I knew all the truths of the Gospel 
by heart, and the most brilliant sermon had no effect 
unless I felt sure the preacher himself was genuinely 
in earnest. From what source I hardly know, I got 
the conviction that Dr. Deems was a truly good and 
earnest man. I went to hear him, and a sermon of 
his on the Fifty-first Psalm, in which he brought out 
very forcibly David's desire for purity as well as par- 
don, — was really the deciding point in my life. I did 
not wait long before I joined the Church ; and I am 
sure that being actively engaged in various fields of 
usefulness has helped me to remain faithful. I shall 
always feel for Dr. Deems the respect and affection of 
a son." 

FROM A PROFESSIONAL GENTLEMAN. 

" You ask me to tell you ' how ' and ' why ' I came 
to join the Church of the Strangers ; and I shall an- 
swer your question without reservation. 

"As you know, I was born and brought up in a 
foreign country and in a Church, which, for me, had 
no Gospel, no God, no Saviour, no infallibility ; but 
superstitions, and fallibilities, and formulas in abun- 
dance. 

" When I came to this blessed country eighteen 
years ago, and in the thirtieth of my life, I heard for 
the first time the preaching of the Gospel. There 
was an expansion of ideas so novel to me that I was 
struck with wonder. I had never read the Bible, be- 
cause that is forbidden literature in the Church from 



216 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

which I came. From motives of curiosity, I procured 
a Bible, and not merely read, but devoured the sacred 
words, especially of the New Testament. I came to 
the conclusion that I had been living for thirty years 
in complete ignorance of who I was, whence I had 
come, and whither I was going. I realized that the 
worldly pleasures in which I had indulged so many 
years were but carnal sins which gradually transform 
a man into a mere animal with only material desires 
and passions, and without a single spark of spiritual 
life. 

" I candidly confess, my dear friend, that no logic 
or rhetoric can convey to a man's mind an idea of the 
remorse, the suffering, the humiliation and degrada- 
tion I felt when I learned what a sinner I was. 

" What did I do then ?— Well, for the first time in 
my life, I prayed — prayed in earnest, with my whole 
heart and soul, not for forgiveness merely, but for a 
change of heart, and spiritual light. I desired accept- 
tance in the eyes of my Saviour rather than of my 
fellow-men. 

" But you may be impatient to know what all this 
has to do with your ' how ' and ' why' 

u Let us see. The preceding events led to a deter- 
mination on my part to join some Church, where the 
inspired words are explained. Choice number one 
was a colossal blunder ; for my poor heart was hunger- 
ing for the living bread, and they handed me a basket 
filled with flowers and adorning ribbons! In other 
words, the discourses of the Pastor were beautiful 
pieces of oratory, but very indifferent explanations of 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 217 

Holy Scripture. I can assure you that I was spiritu- 
ally hungry indeed, and remained so. I found that 
by reading the Bible I could obtain more light than 
by listening to such discourses. I determined, there- 
fore, to hear other Pastors, and again fell into a trap. 
Oh ! my friend, my friend, the Lord deliver you from 
a fashionable Church ! I can assure you that my ex- 
perience in the two Churches mentioned almost 
turned me into an atheist, a heathen, an — I know 
not what ! One thing is certain, — I became skeptical ; 
I no longer believed in anything. All was worldli- 
ness; even the inspired words appeared simply lec- 
tures in a school of morality, written and conceived 
by man alone. The richness of the surroundings, the 
profuse display of worldly wealth, the hiring of the 
pews, in a house dedicated to the worship of God, 
the magnificent pieces of oratory, the sectarianism, 
the churchism — all these appeared to my mind again 
like the mummery of the Church in which I was 
brought up. I suffered a spiritual relapse which was 
more serious than the original disease ! 

" But the Master who orders all things opened, in 
His providence, a new source of light. At this time 
my dear wife insisted on my going to hear Dr. Deems 
preach. I went, and with a slight variation ot 
Caesar's phrase, I was obliged to say, I came, I saw, 
and was conquered ! I found in Dr. Deems an ear- 
nestness in expounding the Gospel which I had never 
heard before; and the more I heard him, the more I 
regained my faith. The horizon of the dark and tur- 
bulent sea on which I was drifting ready to give up 



218 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

hope, became clear and bright. The inner man un- 
derwent a metamorphosis. I began to feel that some 
sincerity, after all, remained in this world. I found in 
the discourses all the logic and rhetoric I wanted, suf- 
ficient clearness to enable me to know what the Mas- 
ter wants me to do, and above all, an earnestness 
which convinced me that the preacher was intent on 
saving my soul. 

" Now, what about the Church of the Strangers ? 
Is it perfect, in my humble opinion ? 

" I will frankly answer, No ; it is defective, as all 
human institutions are. But the simplicity of its 
management and its services was just the antidote for 
that formality which had so nearly made me an athe- 
ist. I must confess, too, that as yet, I am but a babe 
in Christ ; I go to Church chiefly for what I can get, 
for the preaching of its Pastor. The organization and 
departments of the Church are therefore of secondary 
importance to me. I am convinced that there is no 
Christianity in mere Church work ; in fact, I believe 
that the practical, technical part of it would divert 
my mind from the spirituality which I so much need 
and which had been so thoroughly crushed out of me 
by a Church which was nothing but formality and 
technicality. 

" If there be sentiments in the above which seem 
uncharitable, you must remember the circumstances 
of the writer, who simply gives his experience." 



THE YANDERBILT MEMORIAL TABLET. 




THE ABOVE REPRESENTS A BEAUTIFULLY WROUGHT BRONZE TABLET TO THE ME- 
MORY OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, WHICH WAS UNVEILED ON THE AFTERNOON OF 
DECEMBER 6, 1879, IN THE CHURCH OF THE STRANGERS, TO SHOW THE ESTEEM IN 
WHICH THE CHURCH HOLDS HIS MEMORY. IT IS PLACED IN THE NORTH WALL OF 
THE CHURCH TO THE LEFT AS SEEN BY THE CONGREGATION. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 219 



FROM A YOUNG WOMAN. 

" I was an utter stranger in New York, and was em- 
ployed as a governess. There was neither friend nor 
companion to whom I might go for sympathy or com- 
fort. One evening, in a fit of anger, I rushed out of 
the house, determined never to return to it. 

. " I walked for a little while in Washington Square, 
until I became calm enough to reflect on the conse- 
quences of my rash act. I examined my purse, and 
found that it contained about fifty cents. By degrees 
the seriousness of my situation dawned upon me. But 
it had not occurred to me that it was too late an hour 
for a young woman to be in a public park without an 
escort. I was entirely unconscious of my surroundings 
until a man approached me with insulting remarks. I 
turned and ran up Waverley Place, the man pursuing. 
At Greene Street I turned the corner without know- 
ing where I was. Seeing a light about the middle of 
the block on the opposite side, I crossed over, rushed 
in at the open door, up a flight of stairs at the left, 
and sank exhausted at the top. Here I sat in a dazed 
condition for a few minutes, when I heard singing in 
the distance. 

u 'Jesus, lover of my soul, ' 

were the words they sang. I thought of my dear old 
mother, who used to sing that hymn to me when I 
was a child. I got up and walked down-stairs in the 
direction of the singing. It was in an adjoining room. 
I opened a door and timidly entered. I found a 



220 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

small company of people in a large and cheerful place. 
An elderly man sat at the piano. When he saw me 
he arose, came to me, and politely asked me to have 
a seat. In the course of conversation he asked me 
whether I had acquaintances present, and I said, ' No.' 
Then I explained my desperate strait. He encour- 
aged me, and said he would be my friend. He gave 
me a book and asked me to sing, which I did. Every- 
thing was done in a quiet, reverent way. It seemed a 

devotional meeting, but it was informal. * 
******* 

" The place I had taken refuge in was the chapel of 
the Church of the Strangers. The singing I heard 
was a choir rehearsal, and the man who befriended 
me before asking any questions was Prof. G. W. Pettit, 
the leader of the choir, and organist in the Church. 
He said he would introduce me to his Pastor ; and by 
his gentle and Christian conduct and conversation he 
so wrought upon me that I returned the same night 
to my situation. 

" Soon after I began to attend preaching services 
in the Church of the Strangers. I knew the Pastor 
by sight, but still had not been introduced to him. 

" One day I was in great trouble, having just re- 
ceived word that my sister — the only support besides 
myself of my poor oM widowed mother in distant 
Ireland — was dangerously ill. I went out into Wash- 
ington Square. As I sat there I saw Dr. Deems pass- 
ing. Instinctively feeling that from him would come 
sympathy and help, I rose and met him, saying, 

* See Chap. xvi. for a further history of the Choir. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 221 

1 Doctor, I have a sister who is dying ; will you pray 
for her ? ' 

" His reply was, ' God bless you, my daughter, 
I will. Let us pray for her now.' And raising his 
hat he then breathed a silent prayer for my sister. 
Afterwards I announced my name, and explained the 
circumstances of the case. 

'•And this is ' how ' I came to the Church of the 
Strangers. In answer to the question ' why 'I joined, 
I can only say, because 

" • I was a stranger, and ye took me in.'" 

FROM A FORMER MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY 
COUNCIL. 

" You ask me ' How and Why' I came to join the 
Church of the Strangers. I would gladly answer, but 
I fear I shall not have time to answer as briefly as 
you might desire ; and if you have more time than I 
have, you may trim it down to suit. 

" With the contrariness of my people,* I will an- 
swer the last part of your question first. ' Why ? ' 
Well, on the last night of the year 1870, 1 was taking 
stock spiritually. A calm and deliberate examination 
revealed the fact that I was utterly bankrupt. The bal- 
ance sheets of former years filed away in my memory 
showed some small stock of spirituality, and I had been 
proud of the possession. This time I had none ; and 
the want of it did not much disturb me. In former 
years I had times of anxiety, sleepless nights, and 

* He is a Scotchman. 



222 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

melancholy days of wrestling with the great prob- 
lem of life. I was in middle life now, and all such 
anxieties had left me. Instead of the yearning desire 
for a higher life, I had now a settled code of morality 
sufficient to keep up a reputation for honesty — a 
Golden Rule which ignored Him who gave it ! But 
I had one tender spot in my heart, and that spot God 
touched. I had motherless children from whom I 
had been separated for years. I longed to see them ; 
and yet I dared not, lest it should be revealed to 
them that they had a Godless father. 

" No ; I would rather die than add such bitterness 
to their cup of sorrow. The resolve came upon me 
with the weight of a settled conviction, that they 
should never see me except as a Christian ; and then, 
for the first time in years, I prayed — a cold, passion- 
less prayer — and while I prayed the thought came to 
me, ' Can it be that the Holy Spirit has left me ? I 
have no feeling now such as I had in days gone by.' 
The one definite petition of my prayer was, ' Lord, 
let me not see the close of another year except as a 
Christian ! ' I went to bed and slept, and when I 
arose on the morning of the New Year I again prayed 
that I might not see its close except as a Christian. 
I then thought it my duty to p?it myself 'in the way of 
becoming a Christian. * I knew of no Christian Church. 
Many, I thought, were anti-Christian — and one I 
knew by experience had acted as such. I thought — 
and the thought has not quite left me yet — that some 
so-called Churches are only social clubs. I looked in 
the newspapers, and my weakness was accommodated 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 223 

by this announcement : ' Church of the Strangers ; 
strangers welcome ; all seats free.' Now, I had been 
a stranger in New York over ten years, and, so far as 
the invitation went, that was the Church for me. 

" And now comes the answer as to ' How ' I joined 
the Church. I went there on the first Sunday in 
January, 1871. There was nothing there that I 
I could find fault with ! The rich and the poor were 
treated alike. The preacher had wit without flippancy, 
and boldness and originality without irreverence. 
He hurt my pride a little, but I forgave him ; for I 
knew it was only a random shot, and he could not 
possibly know me. I was attracted. I went every 
Sunday. I stole in late and left early, lest some one 
might speak to me, and I might say something to 
commit myself. Thus I continued to attend until, one 
Sunday in May, one of the ushers, a young man 
named Smith, since dead, modestly invited me to 
come to the Prayer Meeting. I accepted the invita- 
tion, and soon began to be interested ; and the inter- 
est grew into anxiety — but still I had no prospect of 
becoming a Christian. On Communion Sundays I re- 
tired to the gallery and looked on, and listened to 
what seemed to be my death warrant ; for I had a 
belief that God would keep His part of the contract. 
The year was half gone when, one day in June, 
while sitting in the gallery, the words came to me 
that changed the whole course of my life. I know 
not what the text was, nor even the subject of the 
sermon. I was seized by one sentence, and I heard 
no more that day. It was this : ' God says, " My 



224 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 



son, give Me thine heart." The trouble with you is, 
you may have offered your time, your money, your 
intellect ; you have offered God everything but your 
heart. Give God your heart, and all will be well.' 
That shot was for me, and it hit the mark. It 
troubled me night and day. It humbled me. I had 
thought myself a philosopher. I saw that I had 
wrestled like a fool. I had boasted : 

"' I shall never follow blindly where my Reason cannot go : 
I shall know by Reason only all that mortals need to know.' 

I had learned long before that Love can lead Reason ; 
and when the order is reversed it is a very weak love. 
I saw that I had never offered God my heart. I re- 
solved to do it now. Overwhelmed with a sense of 
my unworthiness and unfitness, I reluctantly went to 
see Dr. Deems. I had never spoken to him, and by 
way of introduction I sent him a letter, and after- 
wards called upon him. I expected to have my sin- 
ful heart cauterized with theological caustic, and had 
braced myself up for the operation ; but instead of 
pain he gave me pleasure ; instead of humiliation he 
gave me sympathy — ' the oil of joy for mourning, the 
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.' 

" With faith small as a grain of mustard seed, I was 
admitted to the Church on the first Sunday in July, 
1 87 1. I have since celebrated its anniversary as the 
day in which I was born into the Kingdom. Surely 
no one with a weaker faith ever came to God. And 
God hath not despised my poor weak faith, but hath 
nourished and strengthened it. 
'"Thus far the Lord hath led me on, and in His strength I glory."* 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 225 

FROM AN ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL STUDENT. 
' ' Hotv I became acqziainted with the Church of the Strangers." 

" In the year 1878 1 left my home, Antioch, in Syria, 
Turkey, and went to a village near Antioch for the 
purpose of teaching and preaching. This town is a 
few miles north of Seleucia, where Paul and Barnabas 
embarked for the first time to preach the Gospel to 
the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 4). 

" During my stay in the village, one day a friend of 
mine, a missionary lady (Mrs. Shattuck), handed me 
a pamphlet entitled, ' Metropolitan Pulpit,' which con- 
tained sermons and sketches of some eminent preach- 
ers in America and in England. I soon returned to 
Antioch to finish my college course. 

"In 1 88 1 I graduated, and shortly after received a 
call from a large Church in Kessab, a town situated 
about thirty-six miles southwest of Antioch, near that 
ancient Roman road which used to run between the 
capital of Syria and Jerusalem. I accepted this re- 
sponsible position, and now recalled the pamphlet 
which had been put into my hands three years be- 
fore. I said to myself, ' Now, you are just fresh from 
the college, have no theological training whatever, 
neither books in that line. It will be a help to you 
to subscribe for that magazine.' So a friend wrote 
for me to Boston, and I received the Homiletic 
Monthly instead of the Metropolitan Pulpit — the 
same paper, I was told, with the name changed. 

" From this time on a new world was opened before 



226 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

my eyes. My coming in contact with Western ideas 
on our great religion, the ways in which the divine 
truth was unfolded to the souls, altered my feelings, 
and gave me a new inspiration. Henceforth I had an 
intense longing to hear those servants of the Lord 
preach and speak to me, not through the medium of 
the press, but face to face and soul to soul. I finally 
decided to go to the United States, to come in contact 
with the men whose written words had so stirred me ; 
and to get my theological training in one of the sem- 
inaries. 

" Among many sermons I had read, I remembered 
one with special pleasure, on I. Thess. v. 22 — ' Abstain 
from all appearance of evil,' by Rev. Charles F. Deems, 
D.D., Pastor of the Church of the Strangers, New 
York City. After reading the sermon I put in my 
diary the names of the Pastor and his Church, with the 
hope that God would some day open a way for me to 
find the Church and its Pastor. 

"On July 6, 1883, I left the port of Alexandretta, a 
place near Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul, for New 
York, where I arrived in the latter part of August. 
My first work was to find out the Church of the 
Strangers. I inquired in one of the missionary rooms 
at the Bible House, and a kind lady gave me the ad- 
dress. I went out to locate the church (for it was 
Saturday), so as to be on hand in good time for the 
services in the morning. Soon after breakfast next 
day I hastened to the church. It was time for Sun- 
day School. I sat on the bench with a happy heart, 
yet with a strange feeling. The Superintendent 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 227 

came to me and kindly asked if I would like to be in 
a class. ' Certainly, sir/ said I, and the next moment 
I was one of the members of the Bible Class for 
Strangers. 

" I remember still with great delight how I was 
overwhelmed with joy when they sang a hymn which 
I used to sing with my own people (I believe it be- 
gins with these words: 'Jerusalem Above'). This 
coincidence and the fact that I was in a place so long 
desired thrilled me exceedingly. 

" Thus far I had not yet met the Pastor. I was 
expecting him to be in the Sunday School as a Su- 
perintendent and then as a teacher, according to the 
custom with us. I was disappointed, for I did not 
see him." 

" When school was over I hastened to the Church. 
I was cordially ushered into a pew, and at last the 
Pastor appeared in the pulpit. The sermon was on 
1 Cor. ii. 2 ; the discourse emphasized two principal 
points, viz. : (a) that we must know more than any- 
thing else Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and (b) 
that the members of the Church must preach only 
Christ and Him crucified. 

" I cannot tell how much I enjoyed the sermon, 
and how my heart was filled with joy ; for this was to 
me the realization of the longing of my heart, and of 
the hope which I had cherished while at home in the 
mountains of Antioch — the same mountains that 



* He had probably been there and retired before the arrival of 
the stranger ; for the Pastor never fails to address the school when 
he is in town. J. S. T. 



228 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

once echoed the preaching of Paul, and that fur- 
nished the text for the immortal Epistles of that 
Apostle. 

"After the regular service the Church had com- 
munion, and I too remained for that. I received the 
sacred emblems at the hands of the Pastor, who had 
no idea to whom he was ministering. At the conclu- 
sion of the services my Sunday School teacher intro- 
duced me to Dr. Deems, and the culmination of my 
happiness of that blessed day was the warm welcome 
I received from him. Learning that I desired to talk 
with him, the Pastor gave me his address, and in- 
vited me to call on him. During my stay in the 
city, which was a short one, I attended the Church 
as one of its members. 

" This is the story of how I became acquainted with 
the Church of the Strangers. And I am ready al- 
ways to acknowledge this, and gladly, too, that it 
was the kindness and affectionate welcome I had 
found in this house of God for strangers, and more 
especially the sympathy and love of Dr. Deems, that 
made my days of loneliness and sadness happy and 
blessed. 

" May God Almighty prosper the Church of the 
Strangers in love, purity, and activity, and prolong 
the life of its blessed Pastor, the father of strangers, 
and bless abundantly his labors." 



XIX. 

What Then? 

WHAT is to be the future of the Church of the 
Strangers ? is a question that is often asked. 
Who can tell what is to be the future of any- 
thing? Men are seldom remembered by anything 
which they suppose will make them famous. Many 
a man has begun an enterprise that had in it the 
germ of something as different from itself as an oak 
is different from an acorn. Sometimes an institution 
does its full work and loses its institutional character 
in the diffused results of its existence. It becomes, 
in the language of the law, functus officio ; its office 
has been discharged in creating other causes. It may 
be so with the Church of the Strangers when its pres- 
ent Pastor has passed away. He has devoted the 
twenty best years of his life to this work. Some of 
the results may be summed up : — 

I. Fourteen hundred and seventy-five persons have 
been enrolled in the Church membership. Of these 
seven hundred and forty were brought in on confes- 
sion of faith. All these souls have enjoyed whatever 
good came out of the worship, the instruction, the 
general culture, the co-operative benevolent efforts 
and Christian intercourse of the whole body. Young 
men who are now active in Christian work were 
brought into the Church mere babes. They have 



230 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

grown up in its atmosphere, and been moulded by 
the character of its Pastor. Offshoots have appeared 
in several directions, and, being a Church in which 
there is much coming and going, its influence has 
extended in every direction in which its members 
have moved and wherever any of them are now set- 
tled. This the Church of the Strangers has not in 
any singularity, but in common with every Church. 
Some other Churches have undoubtedly done more, 
and some less, in all these directions than the Church 
of the Strangers ; but this is to be taken into account 
whenever we are striving to settle the question — 
"What good will the Church have wrought, even if 
it should at once become extinct?" 

There is no probability, however, of its speedy ex- 
tinction. A Church as firmly wrought together as is 
this ; situated in what is considered on all sides a 
most unfortunate location ; yet having one of the 
largest memberships in the City of New York, must 
have in it some compactness which will probably 
cause it to live. 

2. It might be difficult for a philosophical observer 
to determine how much the existence of the Church 
of the Strangers is due to the growing fraternal feel- 
ing among the sects, and how far the Church of the 
Strangers has been an active factor in producing 
these results. It seems to have been Providential that 
the man who was raised up to be the Pastor of this 
Church should have had so many qualifications for 
uniting many elements apparently diverse. He was 
born a Southerner and married a New York lady of 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 231 

the best connections. His father was a Methodist 
minister. His religious education before going to 
college was under Protestant Episcopal auspices, 
and at college he came under pronounced Presbyter- 
ian influences. Before he was of age he was agent 
for the American Bible Society, which introduced 
him to the different denominations of Christians. 
Very early in life he was Professor in a State Univer- 
sity. This also had a tendency to make him famil- 
iar with the best side of several Churches, and he had 
enjoyed further enlargement from European travel. 
And so he came into a position in which, without any 
trimming or catering to particular theological views, 
and preaching just along the lines on which he had 
always preached, he was acceptable to every denom- 
ination. His Church was really an Evangelical Alliance 
ecclesiasticized. Fourteen different denominations of 
Christians are represented among its communicants. 
It has demonstrated the practicability of Church 
union. It has never antagonized denominationalism ; 
but its Pastor, its officers, and its members have 
always spoken well of all the existing Churches ; and, 
while independent in itself, it has been in pleasant 
communion with them all. It has never professed 
itself a model on which every Church under all cir- 
cumstances should be framed ; but it has shown the 
practicability of having Churches, under some circum- 
stances, in which there were found sufficient bonds of 
union in the fundamentals of Christian faith and 
Christian practice. It has furnished a model for the 
kind of Church which probably ought to be in every 



232 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

small town of not more than five or six thousand in- 
habitants. It has done much by its very existence 
to assist in the efforts made to bring together in the 
unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace all who 
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 

3. The Church of the Strangers, under its present 
organization, may disappear from the institutions of 
the earth. Everything must die in order to be 
quickened. The Apostle calls attention to this in 
the case of seed. It is so in the case of men. 
Wherever a man has raised a party in philosophy, in 
politics, or in religion, that must be broken up if 
he has any principles worth disseminating. 

4. The Church has had no small share in bringing 
about a better state of feeling between North and 
South. In an opening chapter it is related how Dr. 
Deems found the pulpit of New York uncomfortably 
plain-spoken about the South. The war had just 
closed, and the passions of that fierce struggle were 
not yet allayed. The words " With malice toward 
none, with charity for all " had, indeed, been spoken; 
but they had not yet been wrought into the thought 
and feeling of either the North or the South. All this 
was not strange, but it was unfortunate. Dr. Deems 
had the rare tact of preaching an energetic Gospel 
without giving offense tt> any human being that called 
himself by the name of Christ. He seemed to speak 
to the North as one who knew he was accountable to 
the South for every word uttered ; he spoke to the 
South as one who was willing to be responsible to the 
North for what he said anywhere. To appreciate the 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 233 

difficulty of such a ministry, let one accustomed to 
speak or write much look carefully over his favorite 
illustrations, allusions, and sentiments, and see how 
they would sound to a Charleston audience, if he be a 
New Yorker, or to a New York audience, if he be a 
resident of Charleston. Every man has his prejudices. 
Dr. Deems doubtless had his ; but he sought out neu- 
tral ground and there planted his batteries, not against 
sections or creeds or parties, but against the common 
enemy of the race. It was very curious how the Union 
men of New York packed the church to hear this 
" rebel " preach ! Many of the sects hated one another 
right heartily, yet in the Church of the Strangers they 
came together to hear the Word of God, and were 
happy to be known as brethren. When Dr. Deems 
goes South, as he frequently does, to lecture and 
preach, he is thoroughly imbued with Northern modes 
of thought and speech ; yet all his discourses are with- 
out offense. And the strangest part of it all is that, 
while the Pastor of the Church of the Strangers has 
been thus the mediator between warring brethren, 
there has been no dissimulation, but simply a discreet 
silence on controverted subjects, and a wise cultivation 
of the good and generous elements in all men every- 
where. 

The following incident is related as illustrating the 
above statements : 

After Dr. Deems had been conducting services for 
about a year in the chapel of the University, a gentle- 
man who took very great interest in the movement 
asked him for the privilege of a call upon him by a 



234 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

gentleman residing in New York, who had come from 
Boston. The Doctor said he would be very happy to 
see any gentleman who would do him the honor to 
visit him. 

" But," said his friend, " my friend connects his re- 
quest for an interview with a singular, and perhaps, 
to you, unpleasant provision. He desires to call at the 
house when he will be perfectly sure not to meet any 
' Southern Brigadiers/ He especially desires to avoid 
all Southern people." 

" Why," said Dr. Deems, " does he not know that 
I am a Southerner ? " 

" Yes, he does ; he wishes to avoid Southern people 
in general, but wishes to see you in particular." 

" Well/' said the Doctor, " tell him to come on such 
a day at any hour, and if there happen to be any 
callers from the South, I will see that it shall be 
arranged to save him the offensive sight." 

On the appointed day the gentleman called and 
sent up his card. Immediately upon entering the 
parlor the Doctor was struck with the sight of his 
visitor. It was a gentleman he had often seen so 
attentive and so devout at Church service. 

He said to his visitor, "Your card tells me your 
name, after I have known your face for months inti- 
mately, and I have been told of your especial desire 
not to meet any one who comes from the South." 

"Yes," said he; "Doctor, I did make that a pro- 
viso. I am an intensely loyal man. I feel very bit- 
terly toward the South. I cannot forgive the attempt 
to disrupt the Union." 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 235 

" Then, why did you ever come to hear me preach 
when you knew that I was a Southerner, and had 
been in the South through the whole of the late un- 
pleasantness ?" 

" Why," said the visitor, " I came because I hated 
you. I thought I would be able to detect in you 
something sinister and treasonable, and thus crush 
you. Now, for six months I have watched you 
closely. I have especially watched your prayers. No 
preacher that I ever knew before could hide his poli- 
tics from me in his prayers. Those that I had been 
acquainted with invariably told the Lord in prayer, 
and thus told the audience, what their political bias 
was. But if the Lord knows your politics He must 
have learned them from your private prayers, for 
I have never heard a word uttered by you on your 
knees which might not have been spoken by any 
Christian man in America. You have done nothing 
but preach the Gospel, and lead the devotions of the 
people. And now I have come to say that I am 
ready to subscribe a thousand dollars toward building 
you a Church." 

5. When the Church of the Strangers first com- 
menced its work, there was but one Church in this 
whole city — an obscure Methodist Church — that ad- 
vertised an invitation to " strangers." Before twenty 
years had passed, a large number of Churches had 
adopted the free-seat system. Almost every Church, 
even the most aristocratic and exclusive, became 
somewhat " Churches of the Stranger." It would be 
very difficult now to find a Church in the City of 



236 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

New York in which a stranger would be ordered out 
of a pew into which he had inadvertently inserted 
himself; whereas, before that time, it would have 
been exceedingly difficult to find a Church, in which 
the pews were rented, where the stranger would not 
have been asked without much ceremony to vacate 
his seat. Perhaps when all the Churches in the great 
city have become Churches of the Stranger, the pres- 
ent organization bearing that name will pass away, 
and its whole work will have been accomplished. 

6. In reply to the question, " What do you think 
will be the probable future of the Church of the 
Strangers? " Dr. Deems made this answer, which we 
are permitted to publish : — 

"4th May, 1886.— The future of the Church of 
the Strangers gives me no concern whatever. There 
was a time when it did not exist, and probably there 
was no one who would not have been at that time 
more ready to predict the coming of such an institu- 
tion than myself. I certainly never designed it ; I 
never intended to be at the head of a non-denomina- 
tional Church, existing in the style of the Churches in 
the days of the Apostles. I am like a fly caught in 
the amber. I have endeavored to follow the leadings 
of Providence ; have forced nothing; have not been a 
beggar outside the Church nor a tyrant inside the 
Church : all men who know the circumstances should 
bear witness to the truth of that. I have simply 
done my duty as it arose ; and no one knows more 
than I do how poorly each duty has been discharged. 
So long as I live, and Providence does not open 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 237 

another door to me, I shall stay and do what I can in 
the Church of the Strangers. I should not hesitate 
to leave the Church of the Strangers to-morrow if I 
saw that I could probably do more good elsewhere. 
If I should die to-morrow, I should quietly leave 
the whole future of the Church of the Strangers in 
the hands of the Divine Master feeling that it was as 
safe as it was before I ever dreamed of it. It is His 
Church, not mine. I am willing for it this day, or this 
week, or ten years hence, to be dissolved. I have an 
abiding faith that it will stay where it is while it has 
work to do down in Mercer Street ; that it will then 
be removed to some better field, or reappear in some 
other form or under other name, or give place to some 
better mode of work. The motto of the Church has 
been 'All for Jesus'; He will do what He will with 
His own. I am profoundly grateful to Him and to 
all those whom He has allowed or stimulated to help 
me in this blessed work by the space of twenty years. 
I am happy in my work, discontented with nothing 
but the defects in my own personal and pastoral life. As 
I grow older I trust that I shall not fossilize, and not 
try to prevent that flux of things which God has 
plainly ordained to be the method of motion and of 
progress in all the universe." 



XX. 

The Pastor's First Sermon. 

THE desire has been expressed to have for preservation in 
this history the first sermon delivered by the Pastor in the 
Church of the Strangers. The first two Sundays in Octo- 
ber, 1870, were occupied by opening exercises, which have 
been described in earlier pages. On the morning of Sunday, 16th 
of October, the Pastor took up his regular pulpit ministrations, and 
delivered a discourse which, when published, was entitled " Chris- 
tianity Confronting Frivolous Skepticism." It resembles the other 
printed sermons of Dr. Deems, in merely giving the substance and 
showing the modes of thought of the preacher, but scarcely sug- 
gesting the vividness of his pulpit style. He is accustomed to use 
his notes merely as guides, making frequent dashes away from the 
prescribed line. Those who have heard him will perhaps supply, 
in a large measure, his manner of delivery. 

THE TEXT : " I AM NOT MAD, MOST NOBLE FESTUS." — Ads, XXVi. 25. 

[The sermon opened with an account of the events which brought 
the Apostle Paul face to face with Agrippa and Festus, together with 
a brief synopsis of Paul's statement of his case, which, for want of 
space, is omitted.] 

When Paul reached the point of the resurrection of the dead, 
Festus — ignorant, frivolous, cold, and skeptical — cried out, in ridi- 
cule : " Paul, thozi art beside thyself;" but, being a gentleman, and 
feeling how vile it would be to insult a prisoner in his power, 
he instantly and politely added : " much learning doth make thee 
mad." And Paul, full of power and enthusiasm, but most mannerly 
•and refined, made the solemn reply of the text : " I am not mad, 
most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and sober- 
ness." And, turning from the ignorant governor, he addressed to 
the royal voluptuary beside him an appeal so courtly, so reasonable, 
so powerful, that all present must have felt the falseness of the 
charge of Festus. 

This does not seem to be the only occasion in which an aberra- 
tion of intellect was imputed to Paul. There are several expres- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 239 

sions in the Epistles (as in 2 Cor. v. 13) which imply that he 
was considered to be beside himself. But this imputation was not 
a peculiarity of Paul's case. Generally, the men of the world, those 
who stud}- and pursue " the things which are seen," regard the men 
who gaze at "' the things which are not seen " as crazed. The con- 
duct of the latter is so contrary to all the opinions, principles, and 
modes of reasoning of the former, that they can be accounted for 
only on the supposition of mental derangement. And the fact is 
that somebody is crazy. If Festus, spending a life of frivolity and 
selfishness ; if Agrippa, wasting his powers in voluptuousness and 
licentiousness ; if Bernice, degrading her beauty to lust and incest 
— if these people were living reasonably, then Paul was an eminent 
fool. But if Paul, in abandoning the advantages of learning, rank, 
and influence ; in breaking the dear and powerful bands of early 
associations ; in embarking all he was and all he had in the seem- 
ingly frail enterprise of this new religion ; in forsaking all and fol- 
lowing Christ, counting all but loss for Christ — if he was sane, then 
Festus, Bernice, and Agrippa were utterly mad. The dilemma pre- 
sented itself clearly to Festus ; and so, to save himself, he cried : 
" Paul, thou art beside thyself." But Paul gave him the retort 
courteous in the reply, "/am not mad," and by the significance of 
his emphasis and his glance, said : •' One of us is deranged, most 
certainly ; but, Festus, it is not /." 

Just so have you who are unconverted frequently felt. You have 
seen devotion to Christ lead your friends away from frivolities, 
from the slavery of fashion, from selfish indulgences, from all the 
pleasures of " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride 
of life;" you have seen that devotion issue in a consecration of 
body, intellect, power, property, and life to the cause of Jesus ; and 
it has seemed to you amazing, and you have said : " These Chris- 
tians are mad." And thus you have dismissed your conscience. 

And you, dear Christian brethren, when you have seen the 
worldly forgetter of God go prospering in his way, and have been 
compelled to endure poverty and privation for the election you 
have made to follow Christ, have had a suspicion cross your minds, 
that perhaps your course was one of folly, if not of real madness ; 
and the very suspicion has been a momentary weakness. It cer- 
tainly is true that, if sinners be not crazy, then tme Christians are 
mad. But are Christians mad ? Does devotion to Jesus and hope 
of salvation from the hell of sin, through His merits and offices, 
argue a diseased intellect? If so, where is the diseased spot in the 
spiritual constitution ? 

Where is the madness? 

Let us specify : 

1. He believes there is a God, Sovereign Governor as well as 
Almighty Maker of the Universe. He receives this proposition from 
intuition, or else he reaches it by logical processes. There is such 
a thing as intuition. Immediately, without intervention or aid of a 



2 4 o A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

third idea or middle term, the mind perceives the agreement or dis- 
agreement of two ideas. In mathematics, a proposition so received 
is called an axiom. In morals, we speak of self-evident proposi- 
tions. Suppose the Christian take the ground that he perceives intui- 
tively the truth of this proposition : could you any more easily show 
that this arose from a diseased state of his intellect, than you could 
show that he is deranged when he takes the ground that he per- 
ceives by intuition that a whole is greater than any of its parts ? Or 
suppose he have reached a conviction of the truth of the proposi- 
tion of the existence of a personal God by logical processes, believ- 
ing that His eternal power and Godhead are demonstrated by the 
things He hath made, would you not have as great difficulty in 
showing — not simply a fallacy in the reasoning, for that occasion- 
ally occurs with the sanest man, and is not now the question, but 
— that this conclusion, or the mode by which it was reached, demon- 
strated a diseased intellect? If you undertake this in regard to 
the Christian, you are to do the work so thoroughly as to show that 
not only he is crazy, but that, as well, all Jewish and pagan philos- 
ophers and poets, who have stood in princely pre-eminence in the 
Court of Thought, have been madmen ; that all the leaders of man- 
kind, those who in every other department of intellectual operation 
have been master-workmen, are here utterly at fault; and that the 
great majority of men in all ages have been deranged. 

But from all other professing theists the Christian is distin- 
guished by feeling as he should feel when this proposition is be- 
lieved. If there be a God, He must be the moral ruler of the 
Universe ; He must be the Father of our spirits. It is just here 
that Christianity comes in with its blessed offices of illumination 
and direction, and quickening of the moral sense. "Oh, yes, there 
is a God, certainly," says another man, and goes about his work or 
his pleasure as if God were nothing to him, as if He were not Moral 
Governor and Judge, and as if the man were no kinsman of God. 
The Christian has adoring reverence, and tender, child-like, filial 
regard for the loving All-Father. Say " God ■' to him, and it is as 
if you said " Mother " to an invalid child separated by leagues of 
sea from that one sweetest, dearest friend to whom it owes its life. 
Say "God" to him, and instantly you envelop his whole moral 
nature in a sense of the existence of a law that is holy, just, and 
good. He feels that there is a right and a wrong, that the right 
pleases and the wrong displeases THE Father ; that the right is 
good and the wrong bad ; that the right is life and the wrong 
is death. His loves and hates, all .his emotions, are under the 
shaping hand of this powerful belief. And so he is brought to 
love the pure, the beautiful, and the high, and to hate, the filthy, 
the ugly, and the vile. 

Now, is that healthy or otherwise? Mark, the question is not 
now whether there be a God, but whether, believing there is a God, 
a man should feel as a Christian feels. It is now a question con- 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 241 

cerning the emotional part of man. Is it madness, when you be- 
lieve that a certain man is your father, to feel filially toward him, 
whether you be mistaken on the question of paternity or not? 

A Christian is one who is striving to conform himself to a rela- 
tion which he believes to exist between God and himself, being 
impelled thereto by feeling as he ought to feel on faith in the exist- 
ence of that relation. Does that prove an unhealthy state of the 
will? Is it madness to will to do what you feel you ought to do, 
because you believe that you ought to do it ? That is the case of 
the Christian as to God. Paul is not mad, most noble Festus ! 

2. A Christian believes that the " Father of Lights and of Spir- 
its" — one of his synonyms for "God" — does give light to spirits, 
divine illumination to the souls of men ; and that this is done 
partly by a revelation which is in words, now printed, in a book 
well known as the Bible, and partly by the unseen influence of His 
Spirit upon man's spirit. Does that demonstrate mental alienation? 
Hold yourselves to the real question. It is not, is the Bible the 
inspired Word of God, and if so, how and how far? All parts of 
that question might be answered variously, and yet a man be 
mentally sane and intellectually consistent in believing the Bible to 
be the Word of God, in a sense not applicable to any other known 
book. The objector must show, not simply that there has been 
some fallacy in the process by which a Christian reaches the con- 
clusion that God most probably would reveal His will to man ; that 
He would most probably do so as he believes it is done in the Bible ; 
but he must show that none but a crazy man would accept the 
premises of the Christian, or, from such premises, reach such con- 
clusions. The burden of proof is on Festus, not on Paul. We 
will not prove our sanity, Festus, but we challenge you to prove 
our insanity. Show that it is madness to believe that the Father 
will speak to His children ; that He will hear us crying in the 
night and strike no light and speak no word and make no sound 
to hush, to soothe, to help us; that it is madness to believe that a 
Father has a father's heart and bowels of compassion toward His 
offspring, and an earnest wish to lead the wanderer back to the lost 
home. You must show me that it is madness to believe that I 
have a father, knowing my whereabouts and disposed to address 
me a line of confidence and love ; or that this letter which I hold in 
my hands, written in style so like all his authentic chirography 
elsewhere, and full of such sentiments as befit his well-known 
character, and telling me about myself as none but he, that hath 
begotten me, and sudied me profoundly all my life long, could tell, 
and, responding to all that my heart wants of my father ; that this 
letter is a delusion and a nullity ; you must show that, or you 
will never prove me deranged in my intellect for joining ail Chris- 
tians in believing in the divine authority of the Bible. And, Fes- 
tus, before beginning this work, you must recollect that, when you 
undertake to make good the allegation of mental derangement 



242 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

against the intellect of the least developed and most illiterate Chris- 
tian, you must be ready to make thorough work, and to demonstrate 
that also Bacon and Locke, also Newton and Boyle, also Shakes- 
peare and Milton, also Washington and Bonaparte, and all other 
greatest masters in physical and metaphysical science, all other 
greatest builders of the loftiest rhyme, all other greatest governors 
of men and nations, in all the later centuries, have been diseased of 
mind, as well as Paul. And, Festus, this consider : that in travel- 
ing that long and heavy road, you must carry the weight of this 
fact, that, during the past five hundred years, no man has failed to 
recognize the Bible as the word of God who was not known and 
acknowledged to be of diseased intellect or deranged moral nature, 
whatever may have been the splendor of his intellectual endow- 
ments, as Voltaire, and Rousseau, and Paine. Paul is not mad, 
most noble Festus, because he believes that the Bible is God's word. 

And, then, the real Christian feels as a man ought to feel, and 
acts as a man ought to act, who believes that he holds in his hands 
the very word of God, a revelation of His character, His will, and 
His plan for man's redemption. The accusation of madness is 
never brought by worldlings against the men who give merely the 
cold assent of their intellect to the dogma of the divine origin of 
the Bible; it is leveled at those who, believing it, feel and act accord- 
ingly. Well, would it not be madness to do otherwise ? To be- 
lieve that God has spoken to me and told me who and what He is ; 
that He has brought life to light, and immortality to light, showing 
me how to live and how to die, and how to prepare for the life be- 
3 r ond — and then to pay no more attention to the solemn utterances 
of the Infinite Spirit than to a gypsy's predictions or an infant's 
prattle — this were transcendent folly. Is it madness in the Chris- 
tian to endeavor to live according to a directory he believes has 
come from heaven? Is it madness to feel reverence for the tones 
and syllables of the great God ? Is there not a sublime consistency 
in Paul's surrender of the present for the future, of the temporal for 
the eternal ? Is there not an intellectual dignity in the quietude 
with which he bears the necessary and brief embarrassments of that 
surrender, in confident assurance of a final triumph? Beside him, 
what drivelers do Festus and Agrippa appear ! 

I must beg you to keep in mind the point I am striving to make 
in this discourse. It is not to ..prove that there is a God, that the 
Bible is His word, that the Christian is logically correct in his 
views — all this I believe, but am not proving — nor am I striving to 
prove a negative directly ; all I hope to accomplish is to make you 
feel the silliness of those — of yourselves, if you do it — who make 
the grave charge of madness against Christians, when it is impos- 
sible to prove it, because all the serious probabilities are on the 
other side. 

3. Keeping this in mind, let us consider the Christian's view of 
of himself, and examine the course of life founded on that belief. 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 243 

(1.) He holds his sins up to the teachings of the Bible. Can 
any sane man do that and not see " the exceeding sinfulness of 
sin?" Upon that perception follows the intense hatred of sin. He 
repents. He changes his mind. He once thought sin profitable 
somehow, and he loved it. He now sees at the cross of Jesus 
Christ, as you cannot elsewhere show him by any process known 
to the laws of thought, how hideous a thing sin is. He sees that it 
violates the harmony of the universe, and that thus each man's 
every sin is an injustice to every other intelligent being in the uni- 
verse, and thus indescribably offensive to the Holy Father of all 
spirits. He now regards it as the violator of all the .noblest sancti- 
ties and all the most tender and sublime relationships of God's 
wonderful world : and he hates it. He sees how, above all things, 
it is his own greatest injury; and he hates it. His repentance is 
not a mere change of mind in his intellections, but it pervades all 
his inner constitution. It rouses his emotions. He does not 
simply regret the evil act. He hates it. It shames him. The re- 
membrance thereof is grievous. He would hide the filthy thing 
from God, from angels, and from men. Oh ! if he could but hide 
it from himself! And he ceases to do evil. Now, is that madness? 
If there be a God, and if he has created beings capable of charac- 
ter, there must be the possibility of sin. Having sinned, is it not 
really the most healthful feeling to be poignantly sorry for the deed 
of wrong and to hate it ? Is it not madness to go on as if you 
were decent and virtuous and comfortable, when you have sinned? 

Look at these two sights. 

There is a man hale and powerful in his appearance, tied to 
another body. Go near and look at them. See, the body is dead ! 
The bonds which bind the living to the dead are of steel ; they 
break not. But, behold ! The live man does not wish to have 
them broken. He hugs and kisses and caresses the corpse. Oh 
horrible ! The carcass has painted cheeks and polished teeth, but 
its beauty is hideousness and its odor the exhalation of the charnel 
house ! Oh, thrice horrible ! the wretched man pats and pets and 
embraces this decaying body, inhales corruption, revels in putre- 
faction, and is desperately enamored of the dead. He has lost love 
of father and mother, of home and of manhood, in this fearful infat- 
uation. He resents furiously all attempts to release him. He is in 
love with death. 

And there is another man. He too has a dead body bound jo 
his living person. And the bonds are strong. But see how he 
struggles. He shuts his eyes to exclude from his vision the grin- 
ning ghastliness ; he strives to lock up every sense that the hor- 
ribleness of his companion may not fill him and kill him with 
overpowering disgust. He pushes ; he struggles with the bonds 
that make this unnatural union. He strains every muscle and 
nerve for deliverance. The sweat rolls from him. The tears flow 
down his cheeks. He pleads with man and fate, angels and God, 



244 * ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

he appeals to the bowels of humanity and the heart of Deity to 
loose or annihilate him. He makes prayers to fire and lightning, 
to earthquake and storm for freedom. He beseeches death to 
make him dead with the dead, since such a life is bitterer than all 
destruction. 

Which of these twain is the madman? The former has no emo- 
tions and behavior corresponding with his condition, the latter has; 
the former is Festus and the latter Paul ; the former is you, the 
latter is your penitent neighbor. 

(2.) When a man comes to know himself a sinner and to feel it, 
and to strive to keep from sin, does he not thereby acknowledge 
that he has committed offense against some one to whom he sus- 
tains relationship ? Is not that God ? Is it madness to seek for- 
giveness from a Being so powerful ; or unmanly, when the offense 
is against all love ? Is it madness to seek to be reconciled, when 
alienation is a disgrace and an injury, and when there is every 
reason to believe, that which we take to be God's Word teaches, 
that without reconciliation this alienation from God is to work in 
us an everlasting wrong and wretchedness ? But how is a man to 
be reconciled to God ? Paul felt, what you and I often feel, not 
that God is man's enemy, but that man is God's enem}- ; not that 
the Divine heart is enmity to man, but that " the carnal heart is 
enmity to God ;" not that God has to be reconciled, but that man 
has to be reconciled. But he felt his natural helplessness, as every 
Christian man has done. Would God help him? It would seem 
that if He be " our Father" He will help us. 

Paul looked all about for signs of God's work of reconciliation. 
He did not find it in nature, where God had established laws that 
often seem so frightfully inevitable. He did not discover it in 
providence, where the eyes of the wicked stand out with fatness 
while the righteous man perisheth and no man layeth it to heart. 
His thoughtful and logical mind still asked, " Where is God 
reconciling the world to Himself?" He made the discovery in 
Christ Jesus. He found, when a man purely and simply took 
Christ to be his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, his 
redemption, that that man became reconciled to God and had a 
sense of forgiveness. How he could not tell. Nor could he tell 
how vitality was sustained by food. He found it was so. It was 
effectual in thousands of cases.. As far as the human mind can 
discover, it was God's Law in these premises. At least no man 
could show that it was not. Nothing better offers. This plan 
succeeds. Is he a madman for using it ? Is he a madman at being 
transported to find this deliverance from the body of death ? Is he 
a madman for loving God in Jesus with supreme devotion ? Is he 
a madman for standing before the Cross of Him he believes to be 
the propitiation for his sins, and for singing with trustful vehe- 
mence — 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 245 

•'My God is reconciled, 

His pard'ning voice I hear ; 
He owns me for His child, 

I can no longer fear, 
With confidence I now draw nigh, 
And Abba, Father, Abba, cry ! 

(3.) And you see, dear brethren, when a man looks below his 
acts to the nature from which they spring, he discovers that not 
simply is the fruit bad, but the tree on which it grows, and that 
the tree is bad because its sap is bad. He has made the discovery 
that he is naturally depraved. There may be differences of opinion 
as to whether this depravity be partial or total, even among Chris- 
tians ; but is a man insane because he believes that by nature he 
is depraved ? Your science teaches you that each man inherits the 
physical and intellectual qualities of his ancestors, as far back as 
they can be traced ; that depravity of body runs down the current 
of the race ; that inherited depravity of intellect is a proposition 
easily demonstrable. If he reason analogically to a probable de- 
pravity of soul, how are you to show him a madman ? And if he 
perceive that bad things come out of his nature and reason thence 
to the depravity of that nature, how are you to prove him insane ? 

Once having reached that conviction, would he not be at least 
an imbecile if he should make no effort to purge his soul and to 
purify his whole nature ? A Christian is one who, if not yet holy, 
is at least seeking holiness. The Bible method is described as 
submitting the unholy spirit of men to the influences of the Holy 
Spirit of God. There is no other scientific metJiod of becoming holy. 
You purge matter with matter. You apply material substances to 
your material bodies to cleanse them inwardly and outwardly of 
material filth and obstructions. Did you ever know any physician 
to attempt to purge a fearfully obstructed biliary duct by reciting 
to his patient a transcendently beautiful poem, or any surgeon 
attempt to discuss a tumor by presenting to the intellect of his 
patient a concatenation of conclusive arguments ? On the other 
hand you purge mind with mind. You bring intellect to bear on 
intellect, to dissipate mental crudities and strengthen mental weak- 
nesses. Would not that teacher be regarded as insane who should 
poultice the head of his pupil for stupidity, administer pills to 
develop his logical powers, or rub him with liniments to quicken 
his poetical perceptions? 

Matter to matter, mind to mind, spirit to spirit — that's God's 
obvious law. You administer physical remedies for physical ail- 
ments or weaknesses ; you present facts to the understanding, 
truth to the reason, grandeur to the imagination, and beauty to the 
taste, in order to elevate and purify a man intellectually — and you 
are sane. The Christian does that and still finds his spirit corrupt, 
What must he do? All the materials known to pharmacy will not 
" purge his conscience from dead works." All the facts observed 



246 A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 

and recorded, all the truths uttered and written, all the poetry ima- 
gined or fancied, will not, cannot, make him holy and full of hope. 
Some of the most corrupt men have been as handsome as Apollo, 
and some of the most corrupt women have been as physically whole- 
some as Hebe ; some of the most corrupt men have reasoned like 
Bacon and rhymed like Byron, and some of the most physically 
healthful, and intellectually gifted women have been Aspasias. 
How must a man become holy? That is the grand question. He 
must submit his unholy spirit to a holy spirit. All that physical 
and metaphysical researches ever discovered show that. Every 
discovery in physics, in mind, in psychology for a thousand vears 
goes to make good the theological tenet of St. Paul. 

Now where is that Holy Spirit to which my spirit must be sub- 
mitted for my sanctification ? Certainly not in any other man, be- 
cause every other man is in my spiritual predicament. It is out- 
side the circle of humanity. It is in some other kind of creature, 
or it is in God. The only spirit in the universe in regard to whom 
all reason says that He must be immaculate, and not only uncor- 
rupt but incorruptible, is God the Almighty. The Christian acts, as 
every candid atheist even will admit he ought to act, under such 
reasoning and with such conviction ; he submits his spirit, his 
ghost, to the Holy Spirit, to the Holy Ghost of God. With such 
strictness of analogical reasoning and such healthfulness of feel- 
ing, and with the visible, blessed effects, how can you, Festus, how 
dare you, with your denials, your want of affirmations, your no- 
faith, turn upon this honest man, this man with upturned face and 
straight forward life, this man of power to endure and, courage 
to dare all that man or hero ought to venture or to do, how dare 
you call him madman ? You weakling, dawdling in the lap of 
luxury, how dare you call him mad who has discovered and is 
wielding a power which is to shake the nations when you are a 
handful of ungathered ashes ? You almost cipher, to be unmen- 
tioned in all the ages except as ycu are to be held up to the con- 
tempt of the generations as another instance of a pigmy in spirit 
on an Alps of power — that chained prisoner has crushed you with 
one gesture of his left arm ; that man in bonds has pilloried you on 
your throne forever. 

Dear Christian brethren, ye are not crazy. But, oh ! it were 
madness in you to profess these high beliefs of Paul, and go living 
like Festus— to say daily " our Father," and walk the world with 
the forlorn air of orphanage ; to accept the Bible as the word of God, 
and let it have no more influence upon your life than so much 
waste and worthless paper ; to profess yourselves sinners, and seek 
no salvation ; to acknowledge Jesus, and yet not let Him save you ; 
to confess the Holy Ghost, and yet quench the Spirit, and refuse to 
be sanctified. It is insanity not to feel as you ought to feel to be in 
accord with your belief, and it is madness to have your wills and 
lives run violently across your convictions. Oh, be all Christ's ! 



A ROMANCE OF PROVIDENCE. 247 

Let your consecration be round, full, and entire ! It will tear you 
from many a present pursuit. It will draw on you the charge of 
singularity, eccentricity, craziness, insanity, madness. But if a 
clear faith, a pure hope, and an ardent love be madness ; if it be 
madness to have the " fruit of the Spirit," which is " love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem- 
perance "; if to live heroically and die peacefully be madness, then 
I say be mad, and let the Festuses and the fools be sane ! Then 
madness is grandeur and glory, and sanity is insignificance and 
contempt ; then madness is light and rapture, and sanity is gloom 
and wretchedness. Then better, far better, be a good, strong, con- 
sistent, happy, triumphant, earth-conquering, heaven-winning mad- 
man, than to be a wicked, weak, wavering, miserable, cowardlv 
philosopher, to whom life is all puzzle and death all terror. 



The above sermon owes its preservation to Mr. Joseph J. Little, 
of the firm of Little, Rennie, & Co. (now J. J. Little & Co.), a mem- 
ber of the Church of the Strangers. Mr. Little undertook to pub- 
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mornings of the first year of the occupancy of the present home of 
the Church. The plates are still in existence ; and from them 
new editions continue to be printed. 



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